The princess and the Doug fan fic 100 chalenge
by bamboo72498
Summary: this is culmination of 100 fics that tell's the story of Doug and Carol as the go through life after "Such Sweet Sorrow"
1. 001 Beginnings

A/N well here it is, the re-do of my 100 fic's project. My first draft wasn't going the way I wanted it to so I changed it. The is about Doug and Carol and their life post "Such Sweet Sorrow." I promise I don't own them I just borrowed them for my story, they belong to Wells, Zabel, Warner Bros. and NBC, though future characters do belong to me and my friend Tree. R/r

Beginnings

June 2002

Despite it being early morning, it was already very hot in our room. I had been awake for a while now but I lay quiet watching her sleep. I had done this nearly every morning for three years. I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that my girls are actually here. For the first few months they were in Seattle, I felt like I was in a dream; not entirely sure if it was real or not. But as time went on, I began to see that no, it was not a dream and that my family was in fact here with me. I would wake up every morning and just stare at Carol. She looked so beautiful. I would walk down the hall and into the Twins room. They looked just like their mom, both with heads full of curls. I would just stand at their cribs and watch then sleep.

But as they twins got older and grew into toddler beds I realized I couldn't do that anymore, they would wake up and see me and not want to get back to sleep. So now I let them all sleep and just bask in the warm fuzzy feeling I get knowing they are here.

I felt Carol move and I looked at her as her eyes opened

"Hey," I say to her as I push the hair out of her face.

"Hi," she says still coming out of sleep. I lean over and kiss her cheek. She smiles and kisses me back. We lay quietly for a while longer before I hear the distinct voices of our daughters.

"I'll go gather the troops," I say as I get out of bed and pull on a tee shirt. I open our door and immediately a cold breeze rushes in. Walking down the hall the voices get louder. I open the door to the girl's room and am surprised to see both of them sitting up in their new toddler beds, each girl's hair in a different state of disarray.

Kate scampers into my arms and I hold her there for a few minutes until her older sister reaches for a hug. After a few minutes of holding my girls as they wake up fully, I lead them down the hall and through the open door of the master bedroom. The bed lay empty, the covers thrown in a heap. I pick each of the girls up and toss them onto the bed. They fly through the air giggling and land on the bed where I jump on and tickle them. Soon enough we are all laughing.

"Daddy, can we go swimming today? 'Cause it's really hot," Kate says to me after her giggles had died down.

"Sure thing little kit-kat," I say to her as I pull out my swim trunks and Carol's bathing suit. "Why don't you girls go put your swim suits on while mommy and I get dressed and I will meet you down stairs, OK?" I ask as I push them towards the door.

"OK," they both say racing each other to their room.

I open the bathroom door a crack and slip the bathing suit into Carol. A while later all four of us are out on the dock behind our house. The one upside to living on a lake is having a place to put your boat. Of course the girls are forbidden to go anywhere near the water unless Carol or I is with them; usually they are very good about this. But every once in a while one or both of them will get caught and have to be put in timeout, they don't like it, but it's for their own safety.

We were all slathered with sunscreen and had a cooler full of drinks and snacks. I put Tess and Kate into the boat and we headed off to find our favorite spot again. It's a little cove with soft sand and the water slopes down, so the girls can go as deep as they want, so long as they have life vests on. We all had a grand time. Swimming, digging in the sand and just enjoying the warm summer weather.

Everyone was so tired when we got home that night. We ate a small quick dinner and fell asleep, the window thrown wide open.


	2. 033 Too Much

**Too Much**

_November 2002_

"…happy birthday dear Tess and Kate, happy birthday to you!" the rousing chorus ended and all the guests watched in awe as the two little girls blew out the four little candles on their cakes, three for their age and one to grow on. I had been persuaded by my daughters to get each of them a cake, not just one big one. Of course I gave in; I mean they only have a third birthday once.

Both of the cakes were vanilla flavored-their favorite-and were decorated to their specific requests. Tess had pink and purple flowers and butterflies on hers and Kate had green and blue frosting with dinosaurs all over it.

We set up the party at a table in Chuck-E-Cheese and watched as Tess, Kate and their friends from play group ran around playing the games, going down the slide and giggling in excitement every time they got a new ribbon of tickets. Most of the guests had brought gifts for both girls, and as a result, we had to get another table just for the gifts. Tess and Kate had wanted to open them all right at the party, but I told them there wasn't enough room and they would get to open their new toys at home.

As we were leaving, Kate ran up to me. "Mommy, what does that number say?" she asked holding up a paper with the total number of her tickets on it.

"It says one hundred and thirteen. Do you want me to help you pick out a prize?" I looked at her frosting covered face as she shook her head no and I watched as she walked up to the counter and looked through the glass at all the cheap prizes she could get.

We left the place, our car full of present and two little girls holding bags of the prizes they had gotten. Because we had their party there, they both got a tiara and a free bag of cotton candy that their dad said they could only have if they ate their dinner. Kate had picked out a green stretchy lizard, stickers and a pencil. Tess and gotten stickers, stick-on tattoos and a toy pony. Both girls looked like they had had a good time and smiled the whole way home.

After we ate dinner, the girl's favorite-spaghetti, I finally let my kids open their mountain of gifts. As they ripped open the wrappings, I would quickly find the card and write down who got the gift and what it was. They got movies, and clothes but the thing that made them the happiest was a present from their best friend Kaily. She had given each of them tickets to see a hockey game. We all love watching hockey together as a family and that present was perfect for both of my girls.

Doug and I had gotten them brand new bikes. Now that they are three it's time they learned how to ride a bike. Of course the new bikes came with new helmets, we wanted them to have fun, but not kill themselves. It wasn't much longer after the gift opening spree that both girls fell asleep. I carried both girls up to their room and slipped them into pajamas. I gave each a kiss and closed the door. I didn't realize how tired I was until I finally sat down. Doug brought me a glass of wine to drink, but I didn't even take two sips before I was asleep. It must have been a dream but I distinctly heard Doug lean close to me and say

"I love you," I felt him kiss me and that was the last thing I remember of that day. My mind was a sea of blackness, but in a good way.


	3. 027 Parents

**Parents**

_December 2002_

Slushy snow was falling, there was milk and cookies set out for Santa, two little girls were asleep and my surprise was hidden under the tree. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Not only was this the first Christmas where Tess and Kate actually understood what was going on but I had an amazing surprise for Doug to open in the morning.

I slept well that night that is until very early in the morning.

"Mommy, it's Christmas! Santa came!" I woke up to Kate standing over me, a huge smile on her face. I looked at the clock and in my still blurred vision it was only three thirty in the morning.

"Baby, I know you are excited, but it's too early to open presents. We need to wait until the sun gets up. Come on let's go back to bed," I lead her back to her room. Set her back in bed and pulled the blankets up over body.

"Go back to sleep Katie, when you wake up we will open presents," I kiss her cheek and go back to bed. Obviously I crashed because the next thing I know, it is morning and Tess and Kate are poking me to try and get me to wake up. I roll over and look at them, they smile at me.

"Alright I'm up," I say as I stretch away the last bit of sleep I'll get for the rest of the day. "Now go get your daddy up," I say to them smiling. They both run around to the other side of the bed and start poking Doug. They try for a few minutes with no success, so I intervene. I lean over and kiss him. Slowly he rolls over and looks at all of us.

"Merry Christmas daddy!" both girls say.

"Merry Christmas to you too," he says pulling each girl up onto the bed and hugging them. Then he leans over and returns my kiss. "How about we go down stair and see what Santa brought you, huh?" he says pulling on sweats. He grabs Tess and pulls her onto his back and leaves the room with the girl laughing hysterically. I follow close behind with Kate holding my hand.

Both girls shriek with delight at the huge pile of presents under the tree. I sit on the couch and watch as both girls examine each gift, trying to guess what it is. Doug returns from the kitchen with mugs of coffee for the grown-ups and hot chocolate for the little ones. Finally I give the girls the OK to dig into the gifts. There is a system to Christmas in our house. Everyone opens a gift, but one at a time. First daddy, then Kate, Tess, and I go last. This will hopefully stop the frenzy of opening three gifts at once, and give the girls a chance to show off their new things.

"Daddy, here's one with your name on it," Tess says as she hand him the long slender box I had planted the previous night.

"Thank you little bear," he says to her as he pulls the ribbon off. The box falls open and I watch his face. A smile fades to a straight look then in an instant transforms into a look of pure shock. "Are you serious?" he asks me. I nod. "This is not a joke?" I smile. He jumps up and pulls me into a hug, and starts kissing me.

"Are you happy?" I ask him, looking into his eyes.

"Of course I am. This is wonderful." I kiss him again. Two little pink lines, that's all he needed to know. I was pregnant again. We stood in the middle of the living room holding each other for a few more minutes before the twins began asking all sorts of questions.

"What's wrong mommy? Are you OK?" Tess was standing there staring at me. I knelt down to her level.

"I'm just fine baby," I say to her.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm crying because I'm happy that's all."

Doug kneels down and pulls both girls close. "Girls," he begins. "Your mommy and I just got some wonderful news. You mommy is going to have a baby," he says to them. The girls stare at us for a moment before it finally registers in their minds.

"You mean we are gonna be big sisters?" Kate asks. I nod at her and she screams. "Mommy that is the best news ever," I pull her into a hug.

The day goes by in a blur, lots of food, playing with my daughters, and enjoying my family. It isn't until later that night, when we are all snuggled close on my bed that I get this overwhelming feeling of safety. I know that we are not going anywhere and that Doug will be here this time to see the baby be born, and not have to hear about it on the phone.

We fall asleep like that, everyone scrunched close together, warm and safe.

Best Christmas ever.


	4. 075 Shade

Shade

June 2003

"Mommy watch!" Tess yells to me as she runs straight through the sprinkler and comes out the other side dripping wet and laughing.

"Very good baby," I say to her. I turn my attention back to my friend who's sitting next to me. Jenny Anderson has been a friend of mine since I moved out to Seattle. She and her husband Charlie live just down the street and have three young kids:

Mathew is six, Emma is three, and Michael is one. Tess, Kate and Emma are very good friends. They play together almost every day. I like having another mom around. It gives me someone to talk to about problems that I may have and also she's just fun to be around.

"So have you picked a name yet?" Jen asks as she points to my rapidly growing stomach.

"No not yet. I keep trying to tell Doug that we need a name and that my due date isn't that far away, but just blows it off like it's no big deal," I tell her.

"Have you been looking?"

"I've looked through a couple books. I'll try and bring it up later tonight," I say as I get up and turn the hose off. "Come on my little fishes, time to get out of the water. Tess, Kate, and Emma run over to us. Their ponytails dripping with water and they are all out of breath.

"Did you have fun," Jen asks her daughter as she wraps the little girl in a towel. Emma nods and smiles.

"Katie and I were gonna dig a hole to mars, but we didn't 'cause her daddy would get mad," Emma says sitting down on the wood floor of our deck. As Jen makes her way into the house

"Well I'm glad you didn't dig a hole to mars, maybe next time you can. Don't worry I'll handle Katie's daddy, "I say to my daughters friend. She smiles and giggles at me. Jen comes back out and hands each girl a Popsicle. All three thank her and quickly open the package and begin eating their treat. There is silence in the backyard for a while as the girls eat, and the adults soak up the mid-afternoon sun.

That night, everyone was gone and the girls were occupied with a movie, I corner Doug in the kitchen.

"You know we need to decide on a name right?" I say pulling him to the table.

"I know, but it's so hard. I mean this kid will be stuck with this name for the rest of its life," he says sitting down.

"Just relax. Look through here and tell me any name you like."

After a few moments of silence Doug finally speaks. "How about Dakota? I like it, perfect for a boy," he looks at me as I write the name down on my very short list.

"OK, how about for a girl?" I ask. He flips through the pages for a moment.

"Paige, it's pretty, like you," he says kissing my cheek.

"I like it too. Maybe more of a middle name though. I was thinking Addison for a girl's name and Jacob for a boy?" I look at him.

"I like that, but where in the world did you come up with the name Addison?"

"I had a friend in Junior High named Addison, she was very sweet. We called her Addy for short, is that OK?"

"That's fine. Our own little Addy bug, look I even found a nickname for her," he says rubbing my belly.

"What makes you so sure it's a girl? For all you know it could be a boy. Jacob Thomas, I like that," I smile.

"Well then I guess it's settled. If it's a girl her name will be Addison Paige and if it's a boy it will be Jacob Thomas. I smile.

"Then it's settled. Now all we need is a baby," I say rubbing my hand along my stomach, feeling the baby kick. A while later I turn all the lights off and head to bed. I check on the girls and find both of them fast asleep, clutching their favorite teddy bears.


	5. 085 She

She

September 2003

It had been a long day, and it was only ten o'clock in the morning. We had left for the hospital around midnight. Luckily Jenny and Charlie had told us that they would look after Tess and Kate when it was time. We dropped of the girls with them and left. Around five that morning, the baby was born. Seven pounds five ounces, twenty inches long. Addison Paige Ross was the most beautiful baby I have ever gotten the chance to see be born. And I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter, it's the truth. In all the time I worked in Chicago and here in Seattle, she has to be the cutest baby. Carol and I slept a few hours in the hospital. Then I left in the morning for home. I showered, changed my clothes and packed a small bag for Carol and Addy. On my way back to the hospital I called Carol. I wanted to make sure she was alright for me to bring the girls. She said it was fine so I left for their school.

I checked in with the secretary and she paged the girl's teacher to let her know they had to leave. Not five minutes later I heard feet running towards me.

"Daddy!" Tess ran straight for my open arms. I scooped her into a hug and set her down.

"Where's your sister?" I asked her.

"She was right behind me. I don't know where she went," I looked around the lobby until I spotted my other daughter. She was walking down the hall holding a teacher's hand, she looked scared

I saw the teacher lean down to Kate and say something to her. Kate looked up and saw me and broke into a run. I could only manage a wave to the teacher before I was caught at the knees by the four year old girl.

"Hello my little Katie Kat. Did you have fun sleeping over and Miss Jen's house?" I asked her.

"Yea we did. We slept in Emma's room and we had waffles for breakfast and best of all we got to take Mathew and Emma to their school," she said with a smile as we all made our way outside and to the car.

"Do you girls know why I took you out of school early?" I asked buckling them into their car seats.

"'Cause you're taking us on an adventure?" Tess asked

"No not exactly. Do you know why I had to take mommy to the hospital last night?"

"Because mommy's tummy hurt and she needed you to make it all better?" Kate said.

"In a way yes. But actually, girls, last night your mommy had the baby," there was barely a second pause before both girls started shouting and laughing.

"Is it a brother or a sister?" they asked me

"A sister. Her name is Addison. And you know what; she looks exactly like you two did when you were babies," I told them. By this time we had arrived at the hospital and as we walked up to the double doors both girls turned and looked at me.

"Really?" Tess asked a look of surprise on her face.

"Really, I promise."

"Wow!" she said smiling

We walked in silence for a while. Well I walked, the girls ran ahead of me; probably glad they could run and play instead of being stuck in a class room.

When we got to Carol's room, I open the door a crack and very quietly look around. Carol was holding Addison on the bed.

"Can we come in?" I ask her in a whisper just in case the baby was sleeping. She nodded at me and I opened the door wider. Both twins slipped past me and walked into the room.

"Hi mommy," Tess said coming over to the side of the bed.

"Hi little bear, did you have fun last night?" Carol said looking at the girl.

"Yes we did, but I didn't like having you not at home in the morning," Tess said frowning.

"I know baby, but I promise I will be home tomorrow. We have to make sure your little sister isn't sick."

"Can I look?" Tess said pointing and the bundle of blankets her mom was holding. I walked over and lifted her up so she could see.

"Hi baby Addison. I'm you sister. I'm Tess," she said planting a soft kiss on the baby's forehead. I set Tess down on the rocking chair in the room.

"Now Tess, you have to be very careful when you hold Addy, OK? You must sit down and mommy or I have to be with you OK?" I ask her taking Addy from Carol. Tess nodded at me and smiled. "Alright, hold out your arms Ok?" I say. The girl did as she was told and I set the baby in her open arms.

Luckily Tess had practice with her baby dolls and held her little sister's head up and was very gentle. A huge smile spread across her face. I quickly grabbed my camera off the table and snapped a few pictures of the both of them.

I didn't even notice Kate wasn't hovering around her sister trying to get a turn holding the baby. I just passed it off as Kate being polite and letting her sister have a turn, yea like that would ever happen. I looked around the room and found me second oldest daughter sitting in the corner on the floor, crying.

"Kate what's wrong?" I ask her. She looks up and wipes her nose of the sleeve of her shirt, then gets up and walks over to me. I pick her up.

"I'm not gonna be the baby no more. You and mommy won't love me. You already love the baby more," she says starting to cry harder. I lean her head against my neck and rub her back until she has stopped crying.

"Kate," I say. Her big brown eyes, wet with tears looking at me. "Your mommy and I will always love you. No matter what happens. You will always be our little Katie Kat, even if you're not the baby any more. Your mom and I love you and your sisters more than anything in this whole world," I look at her and wipe her nose on the sleeve of my sweat shirt. "Would you like to hold her?" I ask. Kate nods and I set her on the bed next to carol. Carol sits up more and places a pillow over Kate's lap. I take the baby from Tess and bring her over to the bed. I carefully lay Addy on the pillow and step back. Kate just stares at the baby for a while. Taking it all in. I took a really good picture of Kate looking at Addison and the baby staring back, which became our Christmas card.

"Addison, you are very pretty. You look just like mommy. Don't be scared, I won't hurt you. I'm your big sister, Katie. I'm going to teach you how to play basketball with daddy, he likes that," Kate whispered to her sister. She kissed Addy's cheek and sat back and watched as the baby slept unaware that her older sister had just been talking to her.

"Come on girl's, let's let mommy and Addison sleep," I say to them. I lay Addison in the bassinet and give Carol a kiss.

"Bye mommy," Tess says kissing her mom and walking back out the door.

"Bye mommy, bye baby," Kate says, and Carol giggles. The two kiss and Kate walks away waving good-bye to her new little sister.

The next time the twins went to school, the report I got from their teacher was that the only thing the talked about all day was about their new sister and that their mommy didn't have to go to work. I was glad they were adjusting to life with a new little sister.


	6. 012 Orange

Orange

Halloween 2003

"Trick or Treat!" Tess, Kate, Emma, Mathew and Michel said as they stood on the front step of our neighbor's house. They loved going from house to house getting candy and showing off their costumes. I held Addy in my arms, even she had a costume on. We weren't going to be out for very long, especially since I had Addy with me, but I wanted the girls to get at least a little bit of Halloween candy.

For Halloween this year I let each girl pick their own costume. Kate was a 1920's gangster Complete with the pinstriped pans and the fedora, I even let her get a toy gun to complete the look. Her hair was tucked up under the hat so she looked like a boy and I had given her a face black eye and a gash on her forehead; thank god for makeup Tess chose to be Tinker Belle. I pulled her hair up into a bun and put glitter all over her. I was worried her toes would get cold because the material on the shoes that came with the dress was very thin and flimsy, and I was right, her feet started getting cold but she didn't want to stop. She was determined to get as much candy as possible. I put Addison in a little ladybug costume. It came with a hat but she didn't like it so I just covered her head with a blanket, in fact the only way you could see her costume was in the pictures we took before and after we went out.

We continued on for a few more houses until the kids started complaining of being cold. Everyone came back inside and we had hot chocolate and pumpkin bread. After their treat, Tess and Kate said goodbye to their friends and I took them up to bed.

Once they were asleep, I poured all of the candy into one big bowl; the girls would never know whose candy it is and thus, no fighting. Of course I had to make sure it was alright to eat so I had a piece…or two….or ten.

The next morning when I got the girls up for school, I discovered that Tess' pillow was covered in glitter-I guess in hindsight it would have been smart to give them a bath before they went to bed-oh well I'll learn for next year.


	7. 096 Writers Choice:Four Years Later

Writer's Choice: Four Years Later

April 2007

Lunches were packed. Two girls sat at the counter eating breakfast and trying to get dressed at the same time. They would take a bite, put on a sock; another bite, the other sock. This went on until all four feet had socks and shoes on, very clever if you ask me. When they finished eating, both girls ran upstairs, brushed their teeth and said bye to their mom and sister. Carol is sick and isn't going to work and Addison has pre-school in the afternoon, so they didn't have to be up with the rest of us. I grabbed the two lunchboxes and set them by their backpacks. Tess is the first one downstairs and quickly puts a sweater over her green and blue polka-dot dress before putting her book bag on. Kate runs down the stairs, a hoodie and money in her hands.

"Here Tess, momma said we can buy a treat at lunch today," she says handing two of the four dollars to her sister and putting the other two in a pocket in her backpack. I lead them out the door and into the car. Both girls get in and sit in their spot; Kate on the left, Tess on right. These have been their spots since they were little and it has never changed.

I turn the car on and run inside to grab my bag and coffee. I back out of the driveway listening to the twins singing to a song by their favorite singer, Hannah Montana. I arrive at their school and kiss both of them bye. I sit and watch as they cross the street and finally make my way to work.

Later that night I get home and all three of my daughters rush up to me and beg for a hug. After a hug and giving Addy a piggy back ride to the table, we all sit down and have dinner.

"Daddy, guess what I got in my mailbox at school today?" Tess asks me as she runs to her backpack and pulls out a paper.

"Um, a puppy?" I say trying to be silly with her.

"No!" she says giggling. "This," she hands me the paper. It was a flier advertising the local high school's theater program. Their spring musical that year was Annie and the needed elementary kids to play the orphans.

"Momma said I could do it if it was OK with you," Tess said sitting back down. I looked at Carol she smiled.

"Well I don't see why not. Sure you can do it little bear," I said. Tess screamed and ran around the table and gave me a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

The following night, Carol, Tess, and I went to the high school for more information on the part they wanted my daughter to do. We sat in the auditorium with about ten other families. The theater director talked to us about the play and told us they were casting the parts for the lead orphans: Molly,

Pepper and a few others I couldn't remember. After his speech was over he asked all the parents to wait outside and for all the kids auditioning to come on stage.

I stood outside listening at the door I could hear them singing and then the vocal director would say something and they would sing again. This went on for a half hour. Finally we were allowed back in the auditorium. All the kids were lined up in a row along the stage. The director stepped forward.

"Now I already explained this to the kids. They were all very good; I wish they could all be in the show. But we are only looking for five. Don't be discouraged that you didn't get in. just work harder for the next time. And on the up side, all of the kids who audition and don't make it get a free ticket to see the show, just talk to Julia about that," he said pointing and one of the high school students sitting on the stage. "Would Hannah Smith, Jamie Mitchel, Nichole Stewart, Hailey Romero and Tess Ross please stay after to get you part assignments, schedules and scripts; the rest of you can leave, thank you," he said sitting down at the table with the other crew members. Tess' smile lit up the room. Carol and I stayed in our seats until she was allowed to leave. She ran down the steps on the stage and flew into our arms.

"I'm Molly! They said I look like her and I can sing like her! I actually have lines I need to learn," said told us in the car on the way home. We got home and she ran straight for the living room where her sisters and Miss Jenny were coloring on the floor. "Miss Jenny, I'm Molly!" Tess said to her favorite neighbor.

"That's fantastic little bear, I'm so proud of you," She said putting her coat on. I smiled, it was funny having someone else use Tess' nickname, someone besides her family. I walked Jenny out and when I got back I found the girls curled up on the couch, Carol reading to them from the script. Finally it was time for bed. I tuck the girls in, kissed them goodnight and go to bed myself. I thought I was going to sleep through the night until Addy had a nightmare and came to sleep in our room. I spent the rest of the night rubbing Addy's head so that she knew it was all Ok, let's just say I didn't get much sleep that night.

In the weeks leading up to the play, Tess had rehearsal every day after school. Luckily we arranged with the other mom's so that we only had to take her once a week, it was a great plan. And every day Tess would come home with a new story she had heard or something funny that had happened. The high school kids grew really attached to her, she told us. Most of them had adopted her as their little sister. One particular evening when I was picking Tess up, I saw her walk out of the school with a group of kids. When she saw me she gave all of the kids a hug and ran towards the car.

"Bye Maggie I'll see you tomorrow. Good luck in your game," I hear Tess call to one of the girls in the group when the door opened.

"Who are they?" I ask her as we drive off.

"My friends, or some of my friends. Mr. Skelcey only let some of us go. The rest of the cast still had to block out their scenes," I looked at the third grader quizzically.

"What's 'blocking'," I ask her.

"It's where we find out where in the scene we are going. Like I have to move in front of Rae at one point in one scene and I didn't know that until today when we blocked it out," she said smiling. Once again I was amazed at how much my daughter learns at such a quick pace.

"Oh I see. But tell me, who was that boy you were walking with?" I ask her.

She smiles, "That was Daniel. He's really nice. He is one of the boys who play Rooster. There are two people for every part just in case the lead person gets sick. I even have one. Her name is Cassie. She's a freshmen and she only goes on if I get sick," we arrive home and Tess quickly takes a snack and runs up to her room to do her homework. I find her later that night, asleep a book lying across her chest. I put the book on her bed side table and pull the covers over her body. A quick kiss and I leave to let my little star sleep, she needs it.

Finally after two months of preparation on her part and countless hours of chauffeuring her to and from rehearsal, it's show time. Carol and I chose not to go on opening night because we knew she would be especially nervous. So we went the second night. And by 'we' I mean: Carol, Addison, Kate, me, Jenny, Charlie, Mathew, Emma and Michael. We took up nearly an entire row in the auditorium. In front of the door there was a table set up. You could write notes to the actors; little notes of encouragement, or praise. So I bought everyone in our group, who could write, one. I don't know what anyone else's besides mine said.

_Little Bear,_

_You are so awesome. Have fun, do good, be safe._

_Love always, dad_

The lights dimmed and a hush fell over the audience. The band began playing and the show started. Tess was the first person with an actual line. She was so beautiful. She played that character as if it were real life. She made me laugh, smile and almost cry. She even got a standing ovation during the curtain calls. After the show, we stood by the stairs waiting for her. I saw her come out; she had changed from her costume and was back in her "regular" clothes. She had her bag slung over her shoulder. Every few steps she would take someone else would stop her and say something, hug her and give her high-fives. I could see she absolutely loved the attention. As she got close to me, she broke into a run. She jumped into my arms and I swung her around.

"Did you like it? Was I good? Could you hear me, because my microphone broke in the middle of first act? I had to get a new one during intermission," she asked as I set her feet back on the ground.

"You were so good! I didn't even know your mike broke until you told me. You acted very professional in a stressful situation and I'm very proud of you," I hug her once more before the rest of our group takes their turn at hugging the star. I stand back and continue on the photography spree I had started during the play. We say good bye to Jenny, Charlie and their kids before parting in separate directions for the car.


	8. 005 Outsides

Outsides

August 2007

Bugs swarmed our table trying to get a taste of our chips and salsa. We had left the kids at home with a sitter and were out to dinner with Jenny and Charlie. They have become great friends of ours. Our kids get along great and we generally enjoy each other's company. The waiter sat us on the patio right under an umbrella that shielded our faces from the slowly setting sun. She brought us chips and dip and took our drink orders. A time later she came back with our drinks. Three of us had gotten something with alcohol in it-beers for Charlie and I and a margarita for Jenny, Carol just got water. I was curious as to why she didn't get a drink like the rest of us, but put it to the back of my mind.

The girls talk to each other about what else, the kids. Jenny was saying something about how Mathew was loving being in soccer and how Emma was having so much fun in her ballet class. We had put all three of our girls in dance. They all stayed in, but not in the same classes. Kate hated the more traditional styles of dance, but loves Monday night when she goes to her hip-hop class. Tess doesn't like ballet, but she is a born jazz dancer. She also does tap and musical theater, no surprise there. She tried hip-hop with her sister but didn't click with it. Addison is our little ballerina. She developed a natural talent with the dance from her first class. She absolutely loves it. Five classes a week, our girls practically live in their dance studio. On top of all that, all three girls were asked to join competition team, so they are gone almost every weekend at competitions, leaving me home alone on the weekends, which sometimes isn't such a bad thing. Our food comes and in between bites we continue talking. As the meal draws to a close and we are eating desert, Carol clears her throat.

"I've been thinking the entire night about the right words to say. I wanted to make it perfect and not make myself look like too much of a dumb ass. Finally I came up with it, the right words to describe how I'm feeling and what's been going on," I look at her. She's twirling her hands, looking all over the place, she's nervous. That's what's starting to scare me; Carol never gets nervous about anything. She smiles slightly and clears her throat once again. "I'm pregnant," she says it as if we had been talking about the weather and she had said something about how it was going to rain, like it was no big deal. Jenny jumps up and hugs her friend. They both laugh and start to cry. I was stunned.

"How long have you known?" I ask her.

"A week. I wanted to find the right way to tell you," she says. I lean in and kiss her. The stunned feeling is starting to wear off. Now I'm ecstatic.

"Oh honey, this is amazing," I kiss her again and she starts to laugh. The rest of the meal I hold her hand under the table. Every once in a while I squeeze it. I think she knows it's a sign. I'm telling her in a nonverbal way how much I love her and how happy I am.

We drive home in silence; the only noise is the radio. I keep looking at her finally she smiles and laughs again.

"What are you staring at?" she asks me

"You. You are just too damn pretty for words," I kiss her hand. We arrive home and find all three girls curled on the couch covered by blankets engrossed in a Disney movie.

"Girls you will never believe what your mom told me tonight," I say to them sitting in the chair.

"That mom's pregnant? We know dad," Kate tells me. I look for her to Carol, a look of disbelief on my face.

"Wait a minute, you told them before you told me?" I ask Carol.

"I didn't intend too, it just sort of slipped out," she says as we walk upstairs to ready for bed, the girls at our heels. "Kate found the test when she as taking out the trash. What was I supposed to say when she asked about it? Nothing? So I told her. And I guess she told her sisters. In reality it's not such a bad thing, I mean now we don't have to go through the trouble of telling the girls ourselves," she makes a good point, and I can't be mad at her for too long.


	9. 071 Broken

Broken

September 2007

Summer was over; a new school year was upon us. Now instead of two, I have three kids going to full time school. Usually what the kid's school does is a week before the first day they post what teacher each kid has. These class lists are posted on the outside doors near the kindergarten classes. It's fun for the kids to see who's in what classes and if their best friend is in their class.

I had taken the day off from work so I could get my girls ready for school. Once we arrived at the school, the girls jumped out of the car and ran for the lists. I watched as they pushed their way through the crowd to find their names. The crowd cleared and I got a look at the lists myself. The first name I looked for was Addison's. I didn't have to look far; she had already found it and was pointing it out to me.

"Momma look, Carsyn and Eli are in my class again!" she said to me pointing at the names of her friends from pre-school.

"That's great baby," I say to her.

"Oh way cool Addy got Mr. Wade as a teacher. I forgot he switched to kindergarten. You are going to love him Addy he is the best teacher ever," Kate said to her sister. The older two girls had had Mr. Wade as their second grade teacher. They both really liked him, and so did I. He is a very good teacher, and I knew Addy would love him too.

"Alright what about you two, what teacher do you have?" I ask the twins. Tess is scanning the fourth grade class lists looking for not only her name but Kate's as well.

"Oh no," Tess gasps pointing to her name on one list and Kate's on another. "They split us up momma," she says to me. I move closer and examine the lists myself. Sure enough Tess was in one class Kate in another. "Ok so Tess has Ms. Hollander and Kate had Mrs. Foster."

I knew they were disappointed. Not once in the time they have been going to school have Tess and Kate been separated in class. They have always been in the same class. This was new to them; they didn't know how to react.

There was silence from my older girls as we drove from their school to the store to get school supplies.

"Look I know you're upset, Kate, but think of it as an adventure. You get to see what it's like to have all the attention focused on you, and not your sister," I say to Kate while looking at her through the rearview mirror.

"I know, but I'm still mad. What will happen? What if the teacher doesn't like me? What if I need help and the teacher doesn't see me and Tess isn't there to help me?" she was starting to freak out a little.

"Kate listen to me," Tess says making her twin sister look her in the eyes. "Everything is going to be fine. Tori says Mrs. Foster is the best teacher, and besides we will still have lunch and recess together. And I see you every day at home. Just relax. It's all going to be OK," Tess always knows how to bring her sister back to earth. It must be like that twin telepathy thing.

We arrived at the store, and made our way through, stopping first at the girl's clothes to grab some new socks and underwear for the new school year. Finally our group arrived at the large section full of school supplies. We first made our way to the wall of backpacks. Each girl took their turn and chose one to use for that year. The twins were easy, they already had an idea of what they wanted it was just a process of finding the right fit.

"Mom, how's this?" Kate asked turning to show me the blue bag hanging off her shoulders.

"Looks great Kate. Is that the one you're getting?"

"I think so yea," she said putting the bag into our cart.

"What one are you gonna get, little bear?" I asked Tess. Three different bags sat in front of her. She looked at each one studding it, forming a pro-con list in her head.

"I don' know mom, I can't decide which one to get, I mean I like the purple, but I don't want an over the shoulder bag," she looked troubled. She liked each bag in a different way. Finally I started looking.

"How about this one?" I ask Tess holding up a light purple, her favorite color, two strapped backpack with a lot of pockets for her to organize the way she wants.

"Mom that's perfect!" she says taking the bag from my hands and putting it on.

"It looks good on you," I say. Tess smiles and places the bag in the cart along with her sister's. I turn around and nearly step on Addison who had been standing under my feet.

"Mommy look," she said turning. The backpack absolutely screams "Addison." It's pink and has flowers and fairies all over it.

"Addy, that's perfect," I say to her, peeling the bag off her back and adding it to the pile of things in the basket. I reach into my purse and pull out three supply lists. I hand one to the older girls and send them off on a hunt for their school things, and the other I keep out and lead Addy over to find her school things.

"Ok Addy, we need five folders: one red, one blue, one green, one yellow, and one you get to choose," I say to her. She looks through the box full of folders and finds the ones she needs. Then she looks through the box of "fun" folders, the ones with characters and things on them.

"I like this folder," she says proudly showing me a folder with a baby kitten on it. I nod and the little girl puts it in the basket. "What's next?" she asks me.

An hour later we are finally done. Each girl has what they need and in a few cases want. We walk out of the store carrying eight bags, two for each of us. When we get home, the older two begin tearing into the bags, sorting out whose things are whose. The whole "different classes" disappointment has been long forgotten. The house is full of excited talk of the new school year and about what their teachers will be like. Tess and Kate are explaining to Addy the concept of the cafeteria and how she can either bring a lunch or buy one. Addy stares at her sisters with wide eyes. "We can really do that?" she asks

"Of course you can. The best days to buy lunch are on Tuesday because they serve pizza," Tess says to her sister. Addison's smile grows even bigger than it already was.

Finally the day has come. After a week of excited anticipation, it's the first day of school. All three girls got up early to get ready. Doug stayed home late to see the girls off to school. Tess and Kate decided to wear matching outfits to show that even thought they were not in the same class anymore, they were still sisters. Both girls had green tee-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes on. Their hair was pulled back into a long ponytail. When they came downstairs it was hard for me to tell them apart at first. But after a minute I could see their differences; the way Kate didn't even bother putting her jacket on, she just stuffed it in her backpack, or how Tess double checked she remembered to pack her dance bag so it was ready when she came home from school.

Addison was scared, I knew that not only because she told me but also because my usually very social daughter clung to me when we got to her school.

"Go on Addy, you'll be fine," I tell her. I hug the five year-old once more before letting her go and watching as she walks slowly into the classroom.

I feel tears come to my eyes and quickly dig through my purse for a tissue. I didn't realize there were still people standing there until one of them spoke.

"First time?" the mom asked handing me a tissue.

"No I already did it for my older two daughters, but it never gets easier," I say laughing a little remembering how I was crying when Tess and Kate went to kindergarten too.

"Which one's yours?" she asked looking through the window into the classroom.

I look too and find Addy sitting at a table next to another little girl. "Right there, the girl in the pink dress with braids in her hair. Her name's Addison, we call her Addy."

"Well I guess our daughters are friends, mine is sitting right next to her. Her name's Chandini," she says motioning to a girl sitting next to Addy. A long black braid falls down her back. "Shikha Shara," she says extending her hand.

"Carol Hathaway," I say shaking her hand. I didn't know it then but I would be seeing a lot of Shikha and her daughter. Addison and Chandini would be best friends, and spend a lot of time going back and forth between their houses.

When I picked up Addison, Tess and Kate after school the car was a buzz of talking. Tess was saying something about how they got pick their own seats in her class, and Kate loved being in a different class than her twin. And more importantly-her class room has a pet snake. That part scared me a little but I was ok knowing Kate was happy. Addison was telling her sisters about her new friend and all about her first day in kindergarten.

We got home and ate dinner and spent the rest of the evening chasing lightning bugs, a great end to a momentous occasion in my youngest daughter's life.


	10. 062 Spring

Spring

March 2008

"Mommy, mommy, I did it! I passed my green cards!" Addison ran out of her school and strait to me, waving a blue piece of cardstock in her hand.

"That's great bug," I say as I hug her. We make our way to the car, Addy telling me how she took her sight words test that day and got to pick a prize when she passed. Now she has a fresh set of words to learn before she can take the next test.

When we got home, after picking up Tess and Kate, I help the five year old cut the flash cards up and watch as she flips through them. I can tell her confidence level is sky high after passing that test, so I decide to see if she knows any of the words.

"What about this one," I ask her holding up one of the cards.

Addy looks at the card for a moment her brow furrows in thought and after a moment she speaks, "would," she says sounding out the word beautifully.

"That's right," I say putting the card aside and holding up another.

"Tomorrow" she asks

"Very good," I say to her. "Are you sure you don't know these words? I ask. Addison smiles at me as she shakes her head. We go through the rest of the pile, every word I hold up she says perfectly. Putting the cards back in the bag Addy's teacher sent with them, I walk into the kitchen to start dinner. I can hear Tess and Kate talking to each other about something that happened at recess that day. When I finally look up Addy is studying Kate's math homework. The little girl looks from the paper to her sister.

"Katie what does this mean?" Addison asks getting to older sister's attention.

"Well little Addy bug, it means I have to make a graph of all of these numbers," Kate says trying to put her homework into words her little sister will understand.

"We did that in school last week. I like making graphs! I'll go get you colors," Addy says scampering off to her room to find the overflowing box filled with crayons. She returns a minute later the box, nearly as big as she is, in her arms. "I'll help you Katie, if you want," the girls says to her sister. Kate nods and continues her homework, the little sister following close behind with different colored crayons.

Two weeks pass, and I'm standing in front of the girl's school once more. As all of the kindergarteners rush out of the school and into the arms of their mom's or dad's, I look at their faces. I see Addy's best friend come out and hug her mother. I smile and wave at them.

"Excuse me, Ms. Hathaway; can I talk to you for a moment?" I look over at Mr. Wade. He had poked his head out of the door and looked serious. I follow him inside and into the brightly colored classroom. Addy is sitting at a table reading a book.

"Please, sit down," Mr. Wade says as he sits behind a half circle shaped table. Obviously I had a worried look on my face otherwise I don't think the teacher would say what he said next. "Nothing is wrong; I just wanted to tell you about Addison's reading. As you know, every quarter we test the kids to see where their reading and math levels are and if they are meeting grade level standards. When we tested Addison yesterday, her reading level was equivalent to a child in their third month of second grade, and her math was equivalent to someone who just begun second grade. My feeling is that next school year we skip her ahead to second grade instead of to first with the rest of her peers." I couldn't believe what this teacher was saying, I mean it was fantastic that she was so smart and all but making her skip a grade was going a bit too far.

"Isn't there something else you could do? I don't want her in a different grade way from all her friends," I told him

"What we could do is put her into the Talented and Gifted program for reading and math class, that way she would still be with her friends but at the same time in a class that gives her opportunities to excel in the areas she's good at," I could see no wrong with this man, he provided an excellent solution to a problem that wasn't even in existence yet.

I turned in the chair I was sitting in and looked at Addison. She was happily engrossed in a book that I knew neither of her older sisters had been able to read when they were five. I smile then turn back to the teacher.

"I'm going to have to talk to my husband first, can I call you later?"

"Of course you can, just let me know as soon as you can." I nod, stand up and smooth out the lines in my jacket.

"Come on Addy, I bet your sisters are waiting," I say to her. She quickly slides the book into her backpack and takes hold of my outstretched hand.

"By Mr. Wade, see you tomorrow," She calls over her shoulder as we exit the classroom. Luckily for me, the girls knew I was picking them up and waited in the spot we choose to meet at. As we get closer I see that both girls are looking back and forth between Addy and I.

"I will tell you later," I say to the older girls. They nod and walk to the car. I almost can't fit behind the wheel, my stomach as gotten so big, but I manage to squeeze in and we finally make it home.

"Why does this have to be so hard? I mean I want her to be pushed in school but I don't want her to leave her friends. It's such a hard decision to make," I say to Doug later that night as we get ready for bed

"My god you sound so selfish," Doug says his tone rising slightly. "All you've been saying for the past ten minutes is how all of this is going to affect you. How you would feel. But did you ever just stop for one minute and ask yourself 'what would my daughter want? What would be best for her"?" Doug asks me

"Oh my god, no I didn't," I say groaning. "I must seem like the world's worst mother,"

"No not the world's worst, but it's a strike against you," Doug says taking my hand in his.

"What are we going to do?" I ask him leaning onto his shoulder.

"We are going to talk to Addison and get her opinion, and then we will make a decision," he says. I look up and smile.

"Thanks," I say kissing Doug and pulling back the covers.

The next night we had just finished dinner and now the whole family was scattered through the house.

"Addy, will you come here please," Doug calls. Addison scampers quickly down the stars, jumping over the last two steps. She's still holding her Barbie doll and she looks scared probably thinking: 'what did I do? Am I in trouble?' "Don't worry kiddo you're not in trouble, you mommy and I just want to ask you something." The girl nods and sits back into the couch. "Do you like school?" Doug asks her.

"Yeah I do. It is really fun and I like the projects we do and music class," Addison says with a smile.

"What about you friends, how are they?"

"They are so cool, Chandini is like my best friend, we sit together at lunch and we get to play together at recess, plus she's my buddy in line."

"Ok, what about the things you learn like math and reading?"

"I like it Mr. Wade is a really good teacher. He makes sure everyone understands before he teachers us something new. But it's really easy, like I'm in the highest reading group and no one in my class can read the book I can. I feel really weird because I'm so much smarter that they are. And math is easy too, I already can count to one hundred and add and subtract, no one else can," I can tell these things have been on her mind for a while. Her fears about not having any friends because she is learning things the other kids in her class wouldn't understand.

"Answer me this, how would you feel about skipping into second grade? The this would be a little harder for you to learn, but you would be in a class better suited for you, or would you rather stay with you friends and move to first grade with them but be pulled out to the gifted class for math and reading?" Addison stares at the floor for a while silently weighing the pros and cons of every option given to her.

"I wanna stay with my friends. I like them and we play good together, I don't wanna leave them." She says looking at me.

"I knew that's what you would say, alright then that's what we will do. You Miss Addison will stay with you friends and get higher level math and reading classes, how does that sound?" I ask her

She smiles at me and nods. I smile too as she hugs both Doug and I. "Go clean up your toys it's almost time for bed," I say to her. She skips off up the stairs and to her bedroom.


	11. 070 Storm

Storm

May 2008

I had been at lunch when I got the page and ran the entire way from the cafeteria downstairs to the ER.

"Dad!" Tess and Kate ran down the hallway towards me, Addison following close behind.

"What happened? Are you girls all right?" I asked them.

"It was raining; the ground was wet and mom slipped outside the dance studio." Tess said to me. I finally could see the picture of what had happened. Carol was picking up the girls from dance class and slipped. The paramedics were called and because she was pregnant, they brought her to the hospital just to be safe.

"Where did they put mom, can you show me?"

All three girls led me to the doors of a trauma room where I saw my wife surrounded by a bunch of doctors and nurses. I pushed through the doors and quickly stood by Carol's head. She had a bruise on her cheek, probably where she tried to catch herself from falling. She was asleep, and doped up on a strong dose of morphine.

"What happened is she ok? What about the baby?" I asked

"Doug, she's fine, for now. We need to take her upstairs now for an emergency C-section," one of the doctors, a man I had worked with only once before told me.

"Why what happened?"

"Apparently when she fell, it caused her placenta to come away for the uterine wall. The baby's heart rate only began to drop a moment ago. We need to get it out now before it gets even more stressed." The group of nurses moved the bed out of the room and towards the elevators.

"I'll meet you upstairs, I have to get the girls." I told them as the doors closed. The nurse nodded to me.

"Girls," I said to them after I had found the sitting in the waiting area. "You have a choice, but you need to make it fast. I have to go with you mom, you can either wait down here or you can come with me upstairs and wait there.

"I wanna go with mommy," Addison said. She sounded and looked scared and had a few tears falling down her cheek.

"Yea, I want to be sure she's ok and the baby too," Kate said trying to be brave for the sake of her little sister.

"I don't want to be alone. I'll come too," Tess said. I nodded and together we all walked to the elevators. Well three of us walked, I carried Addison who had started to cry harder.

I set all three girls down on chairs in the waiting room of the surgical floor.

"Don't worry, your mom is going to be fine," I said not only for the girls but for me. I was scared but I couldn't let them see that. I pushed passed the nurse and through the doors. I washed my hands and put on a surgical mask.

The sight I was when I walked into the OR made my stomach churn. They had already started the surgery and there was blood spilling out of the incision site. I found a stool and sat down on it beside Carol's face. She was still out and I held her hand. I rubbed back her hair and told her it was all going to be fine and that I was here and I wasn't going to leave again.

"Alright, here he comes," the doctor said. I stood up and looked over the drapes they placed in front of Carol's face. Sure enough a second later a baby boy appeared. He was quickly dried off; cord cut and passed off to the neonatology tem who checked him over. After a minute I heard him cry-strong and loud. I nearly started to cry myself. I knew he was going to be alright.

"Do you want to see him?" one of the nurses asked. I nodded and she brought him over to me. I held him and just studied his features. He looked so perfect. "I'm going to take him to the nursery now and get him cleaned up and checked out." The nurse took the baby back and laid him in the bassinet.

Once the baby was gone all my attention could be focused on Carol. Blood covered all of the drapes and the doctor was stuffing handful after handful of gauze into Carol's abdomen.

"Sarah, open a hysterectomy try, we need to stop this bleeding," the doctor told one of the nurses.

"You can't do that, it's not what she wanted!" I half said half yelled to the OB.

"It's either that or she's going to die!" the doctor said to me bringing the seriousness of the situation to my mind. I silently weighed my options for a moment. Finally I nodded and watched as the doctor took the knife out of the nurse's hand and began.

* * *

Carol had woken up just after we were out of surgery. I told her that the baby was just perfect. Then I broke the news to her about her uterus. She was upset at first but after the doctor left, told me she was grateful I had made that decision for her.

"I wasn't going to let you go, especially since we have a son to raise," I kissed her cheek and left the room, she needed to sleep.

* * *

The waiting room was quiet. All three of my daughters sat in the exact same chairs I had put them in an hour before. I could see them through the window above the door staring back, waiting for me to come out and give them an update.

I pushed open the door, having already discarded my mask and gown I wore in the OR, and all three girls rushed up to me.

"Come on girls, let's go get you something to eat," I said

* * *

"Don't worry, you mom is fine!" I said to Kate for what felt like the billionth time. She had been asking me since I got them from the waiting room if Carol was alright. We had just finished eating and were in the elevator again.

"Can we go see her?" Addison asked looking up at me.

"Not tonight ladybug, mommy is sleeping right now, but how about we go see your baby brother?" three individual gasps could be heard in the confined space.

"HA I win. Pay up Kate!" Tess turned to her sister holding out her hand. The older girls had placed bets on whether the baby would be a boy or girl. Normally I don't condone underage gambling, but I let it fly just this once.

Kate reached into her pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill which her twin gladly took and stuck into her own back pocket.

We had arrived at the nursery. I made sure the girls washed their hands and I reminded them to be very quiet, a lot of the babies were sleeping and we didn't want to wake them up. I quickly found the baby and carried him over to a group of chairs. Kate sat down in the seat before her sisters could and held out her hands. I laid the baby in her hands.

"He's so little," she whispered. I smiled at her.

"What's his name?" Tess asked me while she was holding him.

"He doesn't have one yet," I told her.

I gave Addison a turn holding him then laid him back in the bassinet and led the girls out of the room. All three of us made our way out to my cat. My shift was long over and judging by the way the girls walked, they were just as tired as I was.

We got home and everyone changed into pajamas and slid into bed.

"Good night kiddo," I said kissing Kate on the top of her head.

"Night dad," she said turning and flipping off the lamp on her bedside table.

I get to my room and find one of the many baby name books we had sitting in our room. I spend the rest of the night flipping through every page trying to find the perfect name for my son. Before I know it it's six thirty the next morning and I need to get the girls up and ready for school.

I jump in the shower and change my clothes. I come into the kitchen to find three girls up and dressed with breakfast in front of them.

"Wow you are fast, I thought for sure I would have to pry you three out of bed with the Jaws of Life," I say to them as I make myself a cup of coffee.

"It's like out alarm clock dad," Kate says to me. "When we heard the shower go on, we knew it was time to get up for school. Mom does it every morning."

"Well I appreciate you helping you little sister get dressed, but we need to make a quick pit stop before school so get you shoes on," I say pulling my wallet out of my jeans. "And here's your lunch money, you can buy lunch today in honor of your knew brother."

"Thanks daddy," Addison says to me zipping up her jacket. I usher he girls into the car and after making a quick stop at the store we pull up in front of the hospital.

"Come on girls let's go see your mommy and brother," I say.

* * *

"…And then Tess made us waffles and hot chocolate for breakfast," Addison finishes with a smile after telling her mom about their morning.

"Well I'm glad you girls were very helpful for your daddy, I know he appreciates that a lot." Carol says. She's holding the baby and looks much better than when I saw her last night.

"I brought something for you," I say grabbing the shopping bag off the table. Carol opens the bag and her face lights up.

"Animal crackers," she says. I nod and kiss her cheek.

"I knew they would make you smile, keep looking there's one more thing in there," I wait until her pulls out the folded piece of paper. "I made it late last night," I tell her. she unfolds it looks at me then at the baby.

"What is it?" all three girls ask at once.

"It's a name plate for your brother, to go over his bed," Carol says showing them the paper. On it are pictures of stars and a rocket ship and the planets. Written in bubble letters is the name: Tyler James. "Oh Doug it's perfect," Carol says tears are starting to form in her eyes.

"Ok girls, say bye to mommy, we have to go now," I say. I usher the girls out as they say good-bye. "I'll be right back," I say to carol before I leave the room.

* * *

"How did you come up with Tyler?" Carol asks me. We are sitting in her room; Tyler asleep on her chest.

"I was thinking about Mark. When Jen was pregnant with Rachel, they didn't know if it was a boy of girl, so Mark chose Tyler as a boy's name. And James came out of me watching X-Men on TV last night, and how every time we watch it, you would say 'James Marsden is SO hot' so there you go, your very own James Marsden," I say to her. She's laughing now a smile creating little lines around her eyes.

"Well I love it. Welcome to the world Tyler."

* * *

**A/N- I know this chapter isn't very good, but I've been trying to write it for a few weeks now and it's irking me, but I needed to get it done. Please review, it would make me so happy to see what you guys think.**


	12. 089 Work

Work

I went back to work a few days after Tess, Kate and I arrived in Seattle. It was nice to be working with Doug again; I didn't realize I missed it until I started work again. The people at the hospital were very welcoming to me, probably because Doug had told them all about me and the girls. Slowly I got to know the people who worked there and we became close, of course not as close as we were in Chicago, but it was good to have friends in Seattle and not have everyone hate me.

The hospital was way different than County. The University of Washing Medical Center was not a county hospital and we does not serve to general public, I mean we do but not to like drunks, bums and the like. At first it was weird not seeing some hung over bum come into the ER to get cleaned up. This hospital, like County, is a level one trauma center, which is good for me. All of the things I learned in Chicago came in handy out west. In fact my first trauma in Seattle I got the strangest looks from all the nurses in the room for the way I just automatically knew what to do and how Doug and I worked so well together. I remained a nurse in the ER until shortly after Addison's first birthday, when a little girl came in and became the force that made me change my career…

_November 2004_

"Come on, Sarah, it will only take a minute," the frazzled mom tried to comfort the young girl. She had come into the ER that morning because according to her mom, she had been throwing up all night and her skin was a yellow-ish color. Even I could tell this was not right. The young girl, who looked about nine, sat on the bed with a huge frown on her face. She was not feeling well and didn't want to be touched.

"Hi Sarah, my name is Carol," I told her sitting down on a stool taking out an IV kit. "Listen Dr. Ross and I want you to feel better, but you're going to have to let me give you this IV ok?" the girl nodded and held out her arm to me. I counted to three and stuck the needle into her arm. I was as gentle as I could be, but the girl still screamed and cried. I took three vials of blood, and hooked her up to some saline and left the room.

. . .

"Damn it," Doug took his head in his hands. Sarah's lab results had just come back and they were not good. Both of us had suspicions of this outcome but we prayed they weren't true. Our hopes fell when the labs came back.

"What are you going to tell her?" another doctor, Mike Rodgers, asked Doug.

"I don't know," he said looking between the two of us.

"I'll do it, she seems to trust me," I said.

We both went into the room, Doug and I.

"Mrs. Martin, could I talk to you outside for just a moment," Doug said holding the door open.

"Sarah, I need to tell you something," I said after her mom had left. "Remember how I took some of your blood?" the girl nodded. "Well we ran some tests on it and it showed that your liver isn't working very well. It's not taking all of the bad things out of your blood, that's why you're sick."

"Am I gonna have to take medicine?" she asked.

"Honestly I don't know, but what I do know is that we are going to take you into another part of the hospital where another doctor will look at your tests and decide from there," I felt bad for this girl, she didn't want all of this to happen to her.

"Are you gonna come with me?"

"I can't I still have to work, but your mommy has Dr. Ross's number, so if you need anything, just call that and he or I will help you alight?" Sarah nodded. I hugged her and we sat in silence for a few seconds until her mother burst through the door tears streaming down her face.

Two weeks pass. Sarah and her mom are still in the hospital. Sarah has undergone two courses of dialysis, but her liver isn't responding. The last I heard of Sarah her urologist had put her onto the transplant list. This of course was a last resort and could take a while for any matches to come up in UNOS. At least I thought it would, not a week had gone by after Sarah's name was put on the list a match came up.

The day before Sarah's surgery, during my lunch break, I went upstairs to visit Sarah; I had done the exact same thing since she was admitted into the hospital. I come towards her room and find a group of doctors and her mother standing outside.

"Oh, thank god, there she is," I heard Sarah's mom say.

"What's wrong?" I asked her

"Sarah is so scared right now. I tried to calm her down, but she says she only wants to talk to you."

"Ok, let me try and calm her down, see what's up," I say. I push open the door and come into the room. I find Sarah curled on the bed clutching her stuffed animal elephant.

"Hey girlie," I said to her sitting down on the edge of the bed, pulling her into a hug. "What's wrong?" She looks up at me and I wipe the few tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

"I'm scared; no one will tell me what's happening. All the doctors say is that I'm not old enough to know."

"Aw, it's alright. I'm here and I will tell you everything I know," I smile. Sarah knows she can trust me and that I would not bull shit her with lies and down playing the information, like she needed it to be put into smaller words. "Do you remember when I showed you that long list on my computer and how we found you name on it?" she nodded. "Well a little girl in California was hit by a car and she passed away. Her liver was a perfect match for yours so now there are doctors in the hospital in California who are going to get the other girl's liver and bring it to you. The new one will be put into your body and will make you feel better so that you and your mom can go to New York for spring break like you were telling me about," I smiled. Sarah had been full of excitement when she told me about her trip to NYC. Her mom had been planning it for almost a year and now that it was getting closer Sarah was getting very excited. That is until she got sick and required surgery. All of the girl's plans had been squashed until she learned that she would be getting a new liver. The trip was back on and the girl's excitement started to grow again. "I will be here the entire time. I'll wait with your mom and we will be sitting right here when you get out of surgery," I told her giving her one last hug before standing. "I have to get back downstairs right now but I'll see you tomorrow alright?"

"Mañana," Sarah said with a giggle. I waved good bye and head back downstairs, but not before flashing a thumbs up to the group outside. Sarah's mom mouthed thank you to me and I enter the elevator with a smile.

The next morning, it was bright, sunny and warm outside. After dropping my daughters off at school and daycare, I make my way upstairs and to the surgical waiting room. Sarah's mother is already there. She is sitting in a chair wringing her hands. Her brow is furrowed and she seems lost in her own world.

I sit beside her wrapping my arm around her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. I feel Mrs. Martin jump like she didn't know I was there until I touched her.

"Did they already take her back?" I ask. She nods then returns to studying her hands. "Don't worry," I say taking her hand in my own. "Sarah is with the best surgeons I know. They won't let anything happen to her. Once the liver gets here, she will be in and out in a half hour."

Sure enough after ninety minutes, I see the head surgeon come out followed closely by a gurney carrying a very small looking Sarah. The girl is hooked up to tubes and wires and is clutching her Elephant. The mom jumps up and makes a quick beeline for the door going to follow her baby girl back to her room. I catch her arm just as it touches the handle of the door.

"Wait here for a few more minutes. Once they get her settled in bed, you can go see her." we both stood by the door to the waiting room until a nurse came and told us we could go and see Sarah.

The room was dark and quiet. Sarah laid on the bead still under the influence of the drugs. Her mom and I sat there for what felt like three days but was only an hour.

"Mommy?" Sarah's voice was just shy of a whisper. He mom stood up and came towards the bed. She started rubbing the girl's hair.

"It's alright honey, I'm right here," Sarah smiled them began to look around her mom. I stood up and came to the foot of the bed. The girl smiled.

"I told you I would stay," Sarah nodded as her eyelids closed slowly the drugs taking hold of her mind once more.

. . .

_One week later_

"Hey Carol, Patterson is looking for you," a fellow nurse in the ER, Jennifer, said to me.

"Thanks," I told her. I placed the chart I had just grabbed back in the rack and made my way upstairs.

Richard Patterson is the chief of personnel at the hospital. He has the reputation of being ruthless and mean, not that I haven't dealt with that before. He has three kids but you wouldn't know it just by looking around his office. No pictures or drawings, it's like they don't even exist when he is in the hospital.

I was scared when his assistant brought me into the office. I didn't know what I had done, or if Doug had done something wrong and I was a witness. I sat down, the man staring at me from behind his computer.

"It says here you used to work in Chicago?" he asked me still not meeting my eyes.

"Yes. I left in 2000 about six months after my older daughters were born. I wanted them to be near their father."

"And did you have any experience working with transplant cases over there?"

"Not that I can remember, but I probably did. Why?"

"Because the way you handled that girl. I could tell that wasn't your first time doing something like that," I smiled. Obviously they guy in charge of my job thought I had done a good thing with Sarah. All I was trying to do was help a scared little kid who wanted to know what was going on and not be left in the dark. "Would you ever consider doing something like that as a career?"

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I mean I liked helping Sarah and seeing her through her operation was nice, but I don't know if I could do that all day every day.

"I don't know sir. I would have to think about it."

"Oh of course. How about you sleep on it, and talk to me tomorrow. Then we will go over salary and schedules and such," I nodded got up and left. I didn't want to sit there another second. It was awkward and weird. I needed to leave.

. . .

"What do you want me to say? 'Go for it, it sounds like a fabulous opportunity?' Carol I can't do that, this is something you need to decide on your own," Doug was telling me as we got ready for bed that night.

"You are of absolutely no help. I ask for your opinion and I get nothing. Fine, I'm just going to have to ask the people who matter." I make my way out of our room and into Tess and Kate's room. They were still awake and watching a movie.

A few minutes later I was back in the master bedroom. "They said they would love me having a new job. They thing trying new things is good," I say to Doug a slight 'I told you so' grin on my face.

"Like I said, whatever you want I'll stand behind you one hundred percent," He said kissing my forehead before rolling over and turning the light out.

. . .

"Thank you Ms. Hathaway for taking time out of your day, we will see you on Monday," I shook Mr. Patterson's hand and left his office. I had just accepted the title of 'Transplant Coordinator' it's basically a fancy term for what I did with Sarah, except on a bigger scale. I would handle all of the organ transplants in and out of the hospital. I would help the families and patients and explain to them exactly what was going on. Best of all my schedule has on only half days, eight to noon, unless I'm working on a case. That means I'll be home when my kids get home from school, I liked that part the best.


	13. 015 Blue

Blue

Fourth of July, 2009

"Hey Tyler, what color is that?" Addison asked her brother as she pointed to an American flag, one of many we had seen on out walk down the main street of the fair we were at.

"Boo!" the one-year-old says. Meaning to say "Blue" but not quite getting the word right.

"Good job buddy," Doug says as he pushes the stroller.

The weather was warm, not a cloud in the sky. We decided to pack a picnic lunch and spend the day walking around at the street fair that our town has every year on Fourth of July weekend.

"Dad, let's sit there," Kate said pointing at a bench on the corner of a side street. Doug nodded and turned towards the bench.

Everyone finds a spot, either on the bench or on the curb right next to it. I give all the girls their sandwich and chips. I leave the cooler open; it's filled with drinks and snacks. We all eat, the food tasting so good especially since none of us have eaten since breakfast.

"Hey dad, can I get a slushie?" Kate asks. We told all of the kids that they could get one treat at the fair, and Kate has talked nonstop about getting a giant slushie.

"Sure kiddo," Doug says as he stands up, holding out his hand. Kate takes it and they walk over to the stand selling the drinks. They return a few minutes later. Kate is smiling, holding a cup full of blue goo. She sucks down the cold drink as fast as she can.

"Come on, let's go look around some more," I say cleaning up the last of our lunch. All three girls quickly jump up. All at once, Addison is in front of Kate just as she trips over the wheel of the stroller sending her slushie flying. Most of it lands on her little sister.

"Boo!" Tyler screams before giggling. The sight of his older sister covered in slush makes him laugh even harder.

"Are you alright?" I ask Kate as she stands up. The girl nods but looks sad that the last bit of her drink was wasted. Addison is still standing in the same spot, blue ice dripping off her body. "Come on Addy let's go get you cleaned up," I take her hand and lead her to the nearest bathroom. She is silently crying, more embarrassed than hurt.

Our day at the fair was over after that. Addison was embarrassed and didn't want to be seen in blue stained clothes, and Kate was still mad that she didn't get to finish her drink.


	14. 018 Black

Black

August 2010

I parked the car and turned towards my daughter. The almost eleven year old looked back at me, her brown eyes soft yet serious.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked her for the thousandth time.

"Yes, it will be fun. Besides Jaiden, Tori and Robbie are doing it, it's not like I'm going to be alone." Tess is talking about her friends from school who have persuaded her to take band when she starts middle school in the fall. At first I was skeptical, I didn't know if Tess actually wanted to do it or just to please her friends. But after two months of her begging me to take her to get her instrument, I finally gave in.

"Ok, well then let's go," I say stepping outside. Tess follows a smile on her face.

A soft beep indicates our arrival into the small store.

"Hello, I'm Alexis. Is there anything I can do to help you?" the staff member asks looking between Tess and me.

"I'm here to get my clarinet," Tess tells the woman with a smile.

"Well you came to just the right place. Stay right here I'll go get you one." The woman turns and walks into a storage room in the back of the store, she returns a minute later with a small black case and what looks to me like a purse in her hands. "Ok so this is our basic package. She would get her instrument, a book and stand…" she says setting the two things on the counter before moving around once more looking for more things. "A box of reeds and a cleaning kit," she sets the rest of the things on the counter.

I look at Tess who is nodding and smiling so big I'm afraid she's going to stop breathing.

"Alright, let's do it," I say. Tess immediately throws her arms around me.

"Thank you mom, that you," she says.

"You welcome little bear," I tell her hugging her once more. While I fill out the paperwork needed to rent the clarinet, Alexis has taken Tess aside and is showing her how to put the thing together. After Tess has mastered that, she makes a name tag for her case, so if it gets lost, she will be able to get it back.

We leave a few minutes later. Tess carrying her instrument in one hand, and he bag full of her other things in the other. As we drive home I catch her opening the case, looking at the clarinet for a moment then closing it, she does this a few more times each time looking at it a little longer. Once we get home, Tess makes a fast break for the stairs. I hear her room door close and I don't see her for the rest of the night, she even skips dinner. Every so often I can hear the faint squeaks, squeals and honks coming for a little girl trying to play an instrument.

After dinner, I bring Tess a plate of food. I stand at her door ready to knock, when I hear her groan in frustration. I knock lightly before entering. Tess is sitting on her desk chair, her stand in in front of her with a book opened to a page with a few exercises on it.

"How you doin' little bear?" I ask her putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Awful, I've been practicing all day and I can barely play two notes. I'll never be able to play this page by the time school starts," she is close to tears; her eyes haven't met mine in the entire time I've been in the room.

"Well kid, I know you thought you would pick up on this in one day and be able to play every note in the book, but that's not the case huh?" She looks up at me and nods. "It's kind of like when you first started dance. You went into your first jazz class confident, thinking you would be able to do everything the big girls could do. After the class you came out crying because you couldn't do it. But look at you now, after years of practicing, you can do almost all of the things you couldn't when you first started. You will get there in band, it just takes time. I bet by the time Addison get to junior high, you will be good enough to teach her to play," just the thought of Addison going to middle school made my heart beat faster, but pushed it to the back of my mind. I smiled at Tess and closed her music book.

"Now enough practicing for tonight, time for dinner," I put the plate of food in front of her and she began eating hungrily. I smiled and left her room closing the door quietly behind me.

Middle school crisis number one and been solved, another five hundred thousand to go.


	15. 068 Lightening

Lightening

June 2011

"Dr. Ross, we have a trauma coming in. Three year old little boy post grand maul seizure," the nurse, Becca, said. She handed me a pair of clean gloves as we made our way out to the ambulance bay. The sounds of sirens slowly got louder as the ambulance got closer.

"Three year old boy, post dictal, no LOC post seizure, BP one seventy over ninety, pulse one ten, treated with five liters of O2," the paramedics rang off the "bullet" but I didn't hear a single word of it. All I could see was the little boy on the gurney.

"Hi Daddy," Tyler said as he looked at me. He was awake and oriented but his eyes were still glassed over.

"Hey buddy, what happened?" I asked him, wheeling the bed inside.

"I don't know. I had a bad dream and mommy called the amblylance," he said.

"Where is mommy?" I asked him.

"Right here," Carol called from behind me. I caught her in my arms calling over my shoulder at the nurse to put him in a room and I would come check on him in a minute.

"What happened?" I asked carol, my voice low to keep our conversation as private as possible.

"He had a seizure. I don't know how it happened, but Tess found him. He was taking a nap and she when to check of him and she found him," She was speaking very fast, tears coming to her eyes. As they slowly fell I wiped them away with my finger. I knew she was scared, so was I.

"Where are the girls?" I asked.

"Jenny is bringing them, she was right behind us." I held Carol for another few minutes until her breathing slowed and she had composed herself.

"Ok I'm going to go check him out. You wait here for the girls; I'll come get you in a minute, OK? She nodded tears coming to her eyes once more. "Hey, you can't cry. If Tyler see's you he will freak out. He is going to be alright," I kissed her forehead. I walked to the admit desk, looked for Tyler's chart and found his room.

"Hey buddy," I say to Tyler. He is fast asleep. His arms wrapped around a corner of the blanket he's covered in.

"Ok let's get neurology in here; I want them to do an EEG. Make sure he's on an IV with some saline just in case," I wrote my orders out on the chart and left the room.

Carol and I had suspected something was wrong with Tyler for a while now. He had been spacing out a lot and waking up from naps with headaches and complaining about having "bad dreams."

I was jumping out of my skin by the time neurology showed up. They hooked a still sleeping Tyler up to the EEG scanner and after only a few minutes, we saw him having another seizure. It went on for a minute then stopped. He didn't have one for another hour. I knew what was wrong with him, but I didn't want to believe it.

Carol, Jenny and the girls had been sitting in the lounge waiting for me to come get them.

"I know what's wrong with him," I said opening the door. I let it swing closed before continuing. "After that initial seizure, he was fine for about an hour. Once we hooked him up to the EEG, he had two more. He's been given Ativan, and is still asleep. They want to keep him over night to monitor him and start him on medication." I looked at Carol who nodded. She knew all of the medical terms.

"Wait, what does that mean," Jenny asked looking at Carol.

"It means he has epilepsy. And they want him here overnight just in case he has another seizure like he did earlier." Carol told her friend. I nodded and left the room again.

I had only gone about ten feet, when the door opened again.

"Dad, Is Tyler going to OK?" Tess stood in front of the door, her face stained with tears.

I kneel in front of her, holing her shoulders. "Your little brother is going to be fine. He has to stay here tonight and he will be on medicine for the rest of his life, but he is going to be fine," the girl nods, her face crumpling and tears fall again. I pick her up and lead her into Tyler's room. We stand next to his bed. I let Tess look for herself that her brother is fine, and that he is just sleeping.

Jenny eventually brings the girls home, after they have spent time at the admit desk talking to all the other doctors and nurses they have come to know as friends. Carol leaves with them, only to comeback an hour later, bags pack with clothes and things for her and Tyler. She's staying the night to be with him and make sure he's not alone. I offered to just stay the night after my shift ended, but we decided someone should be home with the girls to feed them dinner and make sure they don't stay up _too_ late. I mean it's summer after all.

_Two Week Later_

Tyler has been put on anti-seizure medication. While he was in the hospital, he had two more seizures that showed up on the EEG. We have ben referred to a pediatric neurologist, who will monitor Tyler with twice a year visits until he turns eighteen. We think he had been having seizures for a year now and since he's been on then medication, everything has been going great. Tyler is still the rambunctious three year old he's always been. His sisters think he's a pain but they love him.

Tyler thinks he is so grown up because it's his responsibility to take his medicine, so twice a day -once in the morning, once at night- he brings the bottle of pills and a cup of water to me or Carol and says "Time for my medicine," he thinks it's the coolest thing, let's see how long that lasts.

Even though it's been nearly three weeks since his seizure, I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night to check and see if he is OK. He always is, I guess it calms my mind knowing my little boy if alright.


	16. 046 Star

Star

September 2011 (other character's POV)

"Judges please turn your score sheets to number twenty nine. This is 'Breakaway'," the announcer stepped off the stage and very quietly the music started.

Tess turned and leaped her way through the whole song. She hit every move with precision and even nailed the turn sequence she had been working on for the past three months. She struck her last pose and came off stage.

"Bailey, was it good? Do you think I did ok?" she asked me after I had hugged her and gave her her jacket.

"Tess that was fantastic, the best I've seen you do that dance," which was true. Tess was not a natural lyrical dancer, and this dance was stretch for her. She worked hard on it and I think what I had just seen on stage was the best I had seen since she had gotten the dance.

"Really?" I nodded. Tess squealed and hugged me once more.

Back in the dressing room, there were girls stretching out, some were getting ready to go on stage and other were sitting on chairs, doing homework or just hanging out until it was their turn.

"Mom, did you see?" Tess ran up to her mom and threw her arms around Mrs. Ross's arms for a hug.

"I saw, I saw. Tess that was so good! I am so proud of you little bear," I could tell her mom was proud.

* * *

Later that day after everyone had performed, including Tess in a duet with a girl named Julie and a group dance with the girls in the junior company, it was time for awards.

"…And now, the top three solos. In third place in number 105 'Shake it.' Second place in number twenty nine 'Breakaway…" Tess jumped up and took her award. Everyone sitting in the crowd went nuts. Tess deserved second place, she did absolutely amazing.

I found her eyes as she was standing up in from holding her award. She flashed me the biggest smile I have ever seen her give.

In the end the Illusion Dance Company won six awards: Tess's second place, a third place for a group dance called Shake it up, two first place awards for both the junior and senior companies group dance and a few special awards. It has been a good weekend, a good weekend indeed.


	17. 086 Choices

Choices

January 2012

"Girls something came in the mail for you," I had just gotten home from work. I stood by the front door stomping my shoes free of the slush that was on the ground. Suddenly three sets of feet ran up to me. I held the pile of mail high above their heads until they stopped crowding me and let me get inside more.

I made my way into the warm kitchen and set the mail onto the counter, the three girls following close behind me took seats at the breakfast bar waiting for me to hand them their much awaited letters.

"Alright here you go," I said passing the packets to its desired recipient. They break the seal's on the packets and I hear them squeal with delight as the contents of said packets are dumped onto the counter.

"Kate look, there you are, I told you you were gonna be in the catalog this year," Tess says pointing out here sister in a picture of the girl holding a bow and arrow getting ready to shoot it.

"Oh my gosh! Tess look it's Tony!" Addison squeals shaking the book in front of her older sister's face. The older girl lets out a small scream.

"Ok I have to ask, who is Tony?" I ask them as I pull out things to make dinner.

"He was the counselor for cabin fourteen last summer, and he is SO cute," Tess explains to me exaggerating the part about how cute the male counselor is.

"And now I regret asking," I say laughing.

For the past six years we have sent Tess, Kate and eventually Addison to a summer camp in Colorado. It's a long ways away but we like that they get out of the state and get to experience something different. The camp is really great. I found it by accident; I was looking for something for the girls to do in the summer, and came across the camp. Arrowhead Ridge is a co-ed summer camp, which I didn't know about until the twins came home after their first summer there and told me about the boys they had met. After all this time I'm ok with it. I know nothing is going to happen and if it does, they live across the country from some of these boys, so their "relationship" can only exist at camp.

The girls love all of the activities they offer and every year they come home with new stories about what they did or things that had happened. Carol and I miss them like crazy, but we understand that they need this in order to gain some of the skills they will need for later in life.

"Oh dad, look, it's the musical from last summer. Remember we did Lion King, and I was an elephant and Kate was Rafiki and Tess got to be Nala one night because the girl left early, remember?" Addison calls to me.

"Yes ladybug I remember. You girls were so good in that play," I wasn't actually there to see them perform it on stage, I arrived the next day, but I heard all about it and we've watched the DVD of the show at least a hundred time since last summer. I smile as I watch the girls looking at the pictures in the catalog, pointing out their friends and themselves.

"Ok girls, it's dinner time. Put that stuff away, I don't want it to get messed up," I said to them putting the food onto plates to be put on the table.

After dinner I sat and filled out all of the paperwork to sign each girl up for the eight week long session of camp. All three girls sat around the table gleefully talking with me and watching as I filled out the forms.

Finally I had to literally push them upstairs and to bed because they had stayed up so late. As they walked upstairs I promised them I would mail the forms first thing in the morning.

The next morning when we got up, guess what I left sitting on the table beside the front door?

I mailed them when I came home for lunch, they didn't even notice (or at least I think they didn't).


	18. 063 Summer

**A/N- Well here it is, a new chapter! I know i haven't uploaded in a while but i've been a little buisy. it took me like three tries to get this one right, but i think i got it. Enjoy.**

**disclamer- ER doesn't belong to me though sometimes i wish it did. Addison and Tyler DO blong to me and my friend Tree :)**

* * *

Summer

June/July/August 2012

Addison- "Wait, how do you do that again?" I asked my new friend Tara. We were sitting up on my bed, the top bunk, attempting to make friendship bracelets. Our counselor, Luna, had just taught us a new way to make them.

"No, no that's not it!" Tara said through her giggles, by now we were both laughing. I guess making bracelets is not our thing. It had been raining for most of the morning so after breakfast we all went back to our cabin. Our morning activities had been canceled, which was good for me because I had basketball in the morning. Not that I have anything against the sport, it's just I suck at it. I'm not a natural athlete like my sister Kate or my dad.

There was a buzz going all through cabin 18. It would be parent's weekend soon and we were all excited. All of us girls had been talking nonstop about what we were going to show our parents.

I was going to be in the horse show and the teaser for the camp musical. We had worked hard all of session one to put together half of the musical and a teaser for the parents to see and for the kids in session one to be in.

"Hey look, the rain stopped!" Hanna, another girl in our cabin, shouted. We all rushed for the windows and sure enough, the sun was out and the rain was gone. We all rushed out of our room, pulling on shoes, and into the main room of the cabin.

"Luna, Julie, let's go!" we yelled at our counselors who were still curled on the couch.

"Sorry girls, the storm lasted too long. Everything was canceled. We still have an hour left until dinner but until then, we are stuck here," Luna told us. So back we went, into our room onto our beds. Some of us pulled our pillows and blankets into the middle of the room and played cards, other wrote letters home or slept. We stayed that way until finally we could go to dinner.

The next weekend at ten A.M sharp all of our parents started to arrive. I didn't get to see them; I was down at the barn getting ready for the horse show which was the first thing to happen on parent's weekend.

I carefully groomed my horse. I had been riding him since I first started riding a month before. Dia was a good horse; he listened to me and followed my commands. He was by far my favorite. Thirty minutes later, I sat in my saddle in line with the other beginning riders waiting for our cue to go into the ring.

"…And finally, this is our beginning class. They have worked very hard these past few weeks. From learning how to walk, trot, and lope to tacking up their horses. These girls have made great strides both in and out of the ring," that was our cue. We all walked our horses out into the ring - sitting up strait, shoulders down, head up - walking a lap then transitioning into a trot, I was so focused on riding I didn't even look at the crowd.

After the show I cleaned Dia up, put his saddle away and made my way up to the dining hall where I said I would meet my family.

"Mom! Dad!" I ran into their open arms. I missed their hugs. A lot.

Carol- it was typical summer evening: Doug and I were sitting on chairs in the front yard, Tyler was playing in his own little world, Jenny, Charlie and their kids playing in the yard next to ours.

Doug and I had just gotten home from our weekend at the girls' camp. During the weekend Tyler had stayed with Jen and Charlie. They had a wonderful time, from what I was told. Apparently they had taken Tyler with them to church with them on Sunday-not that it's a bad thing, it's just we don't really attend church on a regular basis.

"Are you sure you want to take him Jen?" I asked Jenny who stood by the fence separating our yard.

"Of course. It's easy all I have to do I drop them off, leave, and come back in six hours to pick them up."

When they were at church, Jen had signed up her kids to go to vacation bible school. Tyler had expressed interest in going so when we came home, Jen asked us about it. Ty really wanted it so we let him. I mean it gets him out of the house for a few hours and lets him learn to communicate with kids his own age, a skill he will need when he starts school in the fall.

"Alright then, if you're sure." I said smiling.

"Miss Carol, Tyler will have fun. This year is called SCUBA, and we get to learn about Jonah and the wale, it's gonna be fun!" Michael was excited. Out of all three kids in the Anderson family, he was the one most looking forward to VBS.

"I'm sure he will Michael," I said smiling at the boy. The sun was down really low by now, and our neighbors were starting to clean up to go inside. "Come on Tyler time to go inside," I called to my son. He was down at the end of our driveway looking at an ant hill. He looked up when he heard my voice.

"I don't wanna go inside, I'm not tired," he said a put crossing his mouth.

"I know you don't but look everyone else has already gone inside," I said pointing up and down our street. Tyler looked around and saw there was no one to play with.

"Ok," he said taking my outstretched hand. We made our way inside. As I closed the door the house felt eerily quiet to me. No music coming from the basement where Tess and Addy practice their dance, no sound of Kate begging to be outside for "ten more minutes _please_," just the sound of Doug and Tyler upstairs getting ready to take a bath and go to bed.

It was a brand of quiet I wasn't used too, and it was scary.

Kate- I couldn't believe camp was already half over. The girls who only did session one had left yesterday and the session two girls were just starting to come into the cabin. Some I knew form previous summers but there were a few I didn't.

We mostly stuck together-the girls of cabin 32 who were staying the entire summer: Caroline, Megyn, Ashlyn and me. These new girls came in and acted like they own the whole camp. I was not happy; they can't do that, not after our cabin bonded so well.

Cliques started to come up: the old versus the new. Slowly though I got to know the new girls and a few of them were actually kinda cool. In fact, there is another Kate in out cabin, so we came up with a new way to tell us apart. I'm Kate and she's Luna. You know like Luna Lovegood, like in Harry Potter. We thought she looked like that character so it fit well with her.

I will always miss the tight nit group we had in session one, but so far I like session two.

Doug- It was as if the entire doctor and nursing staff of the ER and the University of Washington Medical Center had turned into a bunch of five year olds. All I did was bring in letter and pictures the girls had sent me from camp. Of course everyone wanted to see them and read the letters. So finally I just left them at the admit desk for a free for all, as long as I got them back before I went home.

"Oh Doug they look like they are having the time of their lives," a nurse, Cassandra, told me as we were working up a patient.

"Yea they are. They love going away to camp. It gives them an opportunity to try new things, or work on the things they love. I'm just glad they are coming home next week," I told her.

And it was true. My girls loved summer camp and I was glad they were happy, but after nearly eight weeks I was starting to miss them.

During my break I found my favorite photo I was sent. It was of all three of my girls. Kate was in a jersey and basketball shorts with a ball in her hands, Addison had riding boots and a helmet on, she had just gotten back from her riding lesson and Tess had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and held a younger girl in her lap. That younger girl was one of the kids Tess was teaching dance too. They were all smiling; the sun was setting behind them.

I held the picture for a minute just looking from one girl to the other. I missed them so much, it hurt. I couldn't wait for them to be home, where I could check on them at night and make sure they are Ok.

_One more week, that's all, then they will be home_. I hoped my internal pep talk was enough to get me through. If it wasn't, I had plenty of heat sickness to care for and camp physicals to do until they get home. I set the picture back in the pile and grabbed another chart off the rack. I smiled as I made my way into an examining room to see my new patient. One more week.

Tess- I quickly finished tying the straps of my dress behind my neck. I slipped into the nice shoes I had brought with me and followed the rest of the girls in my cabin out the door and down the path. We met up with the other junior and senior division girls who were going to the formal dance.

Every year at the end of the summer, the camp brings the boys and girls together for one final dance. The last dance is always more formal than the others, which is why when I looked around I saw girls in dresses with their hair done all nice, makeup perfect and sky high heels. I felt short in my kitten heels but I knew my feet would thank me by the end of the night.

We all loaded up into the vans and rode around the lake to the boy's camp. The sun had just started to set, and fireflies were starting to come out and create little sparkles of light.

I followed the group up a small path to the activities center where the dance would be held.

"Hey are you Ok?" my friend Greyson asked me. She and I had been friends since camp started, I felt like she was my camp sister and I could tell her everything.

"No," I said shaking my head. Butterflies began fluttering around in my stomach. "What if he doesn't show up?" I asked her.

"Listen to me, he will love you, he is going to show and you_ will_ get that kiss Ok?" I looked at my friend. She smiled and nodded her head.

I returned the smile but not a big as hers and continued walking into the building. The dance was already in full swing. The music was blaring and there were kids dancing. I stood off to the side for a while before a song I really liked came on. Soon I was out in the middle of the dance floor with my friends having a great time.

Every so often I would look around the room. I never found what I was looking for and would return to dancing. As the dance wore on my confidence started to fall. Slowly the dance was ending and people were getting off the dance floor. My group of friends was still out their dancing. I didn't notice Greyson had stopped until she poked my arm.

"He's here," she said pointing to the door of the gym.

My eyes met his. Perfect pools of sky blue water, shaggy brown hair and a smile that could light up the world if it got the chance. He caught my gaze and motioned for me to come with him.

I wave bye to me friends and followed him outside. We sat together under a tree for what felt like hours, not talking just siting there.

"Tess," he said looking at me. My breath caught in my throat. "I have had the best summer with you. you are one special girl," he took my hand and smiled slightly. My hear skipped a beat at his touch and I returned the smile. "I wish we could stay together forever,"

_Oh god_, I thought, _please don't say it, please._ "But I think we should just leave what ever happened here, here. I really like you. I want you to know that," I couldn't hear anymore. Tears threatened to push their way out of my eyes. I got up and ran away.

I sat in the van until all of the other girls came out. I didn't meet their eyes, my own were watching the hem of my dress.

"Hey, are you Ok? I heard about what happened?" I turned to my friend. Tears had already stained my cheek and more were coming fast. I shook my head as my face crumpled. Greyson just held me and let me cry on her shoulder.

When we got back to the cabin, I went to bed. I just wanted this night to be over. I wanted to get up in the morning and go home. I never wanted to see this place again.

I had spent the whole summer trying to get the guy I had like to notice me, weeks of batting my eyes and hard core flirting. What was I left with – a broken heart and a tearstained pillow. Stupid summer.

* * *

**A/N- so, what did you think? was it Ok? tell me what you think. ok new thing:Comment Question. on some new chapters i will post a question pertaning to what is comming up next. your job is to not only answer the question, but also review the chapter it was from.**

**first question: Something bad is going to happen at Tess and Kate's school, shoud it be : a)a fire b) a shooting c) changing the dress code to uniforms?**

**R/R**


	19. 021 Friends

**A/N-A new chapter? Yes my fine feathered friends, it's true a new one! This chapter is dedacated to my best friend Tree. Without you the characters in the chapter would not have been made. I love you with all my heart**

**Disclamor-Don't own them, except Addison, Tyler, Chan and her mom :) cudos to John Well and Zabel for these lovely characters we all can wright about ;)**

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September 2012

I could hear the doorbell ring from my office. It was a Friday night and Addison's best friend Chandini was sleeping over.

"Mom she's here!" Addy called as I came down the stairs

"Well don't make her stand outside all day, open the door silly," I told her hitting her behind lightly. She laughed and opened the door.

Chandini and her mom stood outside on the porch. Once the door opened the young girl ran inside, backpack slung over her shoulder, pillow under her arm.

The two best friends ran upstairs and I could hear the faint click as the door to Addison's room closed.

"So, what time are you picking her up tomorrow?" I asked Shikha. I noticed that she didn't speak, he mouth was pressed into a thin line and she was looking at my toes.

"Could we maybe sit down and talk for a while?" she final said after a few moments of silence. I said leading her to the couches in our front room.

"What's wrong? Is everything alright?" I asked placing my hand over hers

"Well, Samuel got a new job," she began. "In Iowa, and we will be moving after she finishes school before Christmas. I wanted to tell you because Chandini and Addy have been great friends, and I wanted you to know so that when Chandini tells her, you won't be so surprised."

"Oh that's amazing for you guys, we are sure going to miss you," I said.

"We will miss you too, you have been great friends. I don't want to lose that friendship."

"We can stay in touch, I have your husband's e-mail address and you know our address so we can sent letter to each other," I said smiling. I wasn't worried about forgetting them. I was more worried about Addy.

Chan was her best friend. They did everything together. They had been in the same class since meeting in kindergarten. Addy even convinced Chan to take a dance class with her. Both girls loved being in jazz dance together, it was another thing they shared a love for: dance, horses, and pink; the three things that they built their friendship on.

"Chandini, I'm leaving now," Shikha called up the stairs. The girls ran down the stairs, where the mom hugged her daughter. "Be good," she said before leaving.

"I will, bye mommy," Chandini said. The door closed and I was left with two little girls standing on the stairs.

"Hey, why don't you two go pre-heat the oven and I'll help you make some cookies?" I asked them

They nodded furiously and scampered off into the kitchen.

* * *

"Bye Chan, we'll see you in a few days. Thanks for coming" I waved as their car left our driveway the next morning. I closed the door them walked back upstairs. Addison was snuggled up against her dad who was rubbing the hair back off her face.

"Hey ladybug, how are you doin'?" I asked her. Her face crumpled once again and tears fell from her chocolate brown eyes. "Oh, Addy, it's Ok. You will see her again I promise," I smiled trying to comfort my daughter.

Late the previous night, Chandini told her best friend about moving. The conversation soon escalated into an argument, which left Addy in bed with Doug and I and Chandini to sleep in Addy's room alone. Addison had cried the entire night. We only got about two hours sleep. She was upset her friend was leaving her.

Addison and Chandini. Addy and chan. Completely polar opposites in every way. But still best friends. Addison was quiet, thoughtful; while Chandini was loud and opinionated, without being rude, she just spoke her mind. It still baffles me how two girls with completely different personalities could remain best friends for nearly five years.

And now it was ending. With one phone conversation her dad had, it was all over.

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**A/N-Well what did you think? I tried to get the emotion right, emphasis on TRIED. The next chapter will continue with this plot line. Until next time...**


	20. 003 Ends

**A/N- so this is a continuation of the previous chapter. hope you like how i ended it.**

* * *

As I watched the two friends hug for the last time, my eyes started to well up. I was sad that this friendship had to end. Three days before Christmas of all times.

There was a chill outside and it was cold. Once the girls had broken from their hug, the locked their pinky fingers together, a symbol of friendship, their own way of saying "I love you."

Chandini followed her mother back into the car. They waved one last time before moving on down the street. Addison just stood there, tears creating little lines on her red cheeks. I let her watch for a few more minutes before walking out into the street and picking her up. I carried Addy back into the house her crying the whole way.

I held her on the couch just like I did when she was a baby. I knew she needed this time to cry, and to be held and feel like she's safe. Once Addison had stopped crying, I sent her upstairs.

I quickly made her some soup and warmed her favorite blanket up in the dryer. I tried to make Addison feel better. I hated seeing her like this, it broke my heart. I left the fourth grader alone for the rest of the night. I went and checked on her right before I went to bed.

I found her with an open book on her chest and the light still on. I set the book on her bedside table, pulled the blanket snug around her and flicked the light off. I kissed her cheek and went to bed.

* * *

The next few days we were too busy for Addy to think about her friend. All three girls were performing in a traveling Christmas show. Their dance studio was going around to nursing homes and homeless shelters dancing and spreading a little Christmas cheer. Each day we went to two or three places. The show started two weeks before Christmas and ended the day before Christmas Eve.

Each of my girls performed in a dance with their classes and hen at the end the whole studio went onto the "stage" and did a finale number. It was fun watching the girls dance and watching as Tess, Kate and the older girls helped the younger ones on stage, backstage and with their dances. The crowds loved the shows, and every night when we got home all three girls were exhausted.

* * *

"Come on momma, the movie is starting!" I finish making one last cup of hot chocolate then leave the kitchen, shutting the light off as I leave. I find my family strewn all over the living room. Addison's made a nest for herself on a chair. Kate is sitting in her favorite spot on the couch. Doug and Tyler are sitting next to Kate on the couch, the younger one laying across his dad an sister. Tess is leaning against the couch on the floor, her legs out in front of her. I hand each child a cup of the steaming cocoa then wiggle my way into the only empty spot on the couch.

"Ok what did I miss?" I ask to no one in particular.

"Well, just the part in the kitchen where the milk spills and the little kid gets stuck behind the chair," Kate explains to me.

We sit in relative silence watching the movie. I glance over at Tyler watching his reactions. It's his first time watching _Home Alone_, and out of all of us he is laughing the hardest.

"Alright, everyone up to bed," I say once the credits begin rolling. I get no complaints; they are all too tired too. As Doug walks by me, holding a sleeping Tyler, I kiss the young boy's cheek.

Once all my kids are up stairs and I'm sure they are asleep, I begin work on setting out their Christmas gifts. It's pushing one in the morning before I finally fall into bed myself. Sleep comes not long after my head hits the pillow.

* * *

"Mommy! Mommy! Wake up, it's Christmas!" My eyes open and I'm looking into the chubby cheeked face of my four year-old Tyler. His head is about an inch from my face and he's wearing a wide grin.

I blink away the last bit of sleep then look at the clock. Could it really be? It is! Seven thirty! My kids have actually slept past five in the morning for the first Christmas ever. I roll over to find an empty spot.

"Where's dad?" I ask Tyler as I pull back the covers.

"He went down stairs. He told me to wake you up," he says with a smile. I take his hand as he leads me down the stairs to the lit up tree.

"Look at what Santa brought me!" Tyler shouts. His smile is almost as bright as the tree behind him. He's pointing at a brand new hockey net and stick. The kid has been obsessed with hockey for the past six months, he wants to play but when we went to sign him up this past fall they said he was too little, so we're going to have to wait until next season.

"Wow Ty! Santa must have thought you were very good this year," I say to him taking a seat on the couch. All three of the older girls have claimed spots all over the living room.

"Merry Christmas," his voice is deep and crisp. I love the feeling of his breath on the back of my neck. I lean back and kiss him.

"Merry Christmas." We're both smiling now.

"Momma can we _please_ open the presents now?" Addison asks me.

"Have at it," I tell her.

She reaches for the closest bag with her name on it. I'm smiling as she opens the bag.

"Mom it's form Chan!" she squeals.

"Well open it. What did she give you?" out of the bag comes a sand colored teddy bear, candy and a card. Addison tears open the envelope and reads the card.

"Ladybug, I miss you so much. I wish I was there right now so we could play outside. Iowa is cold and windy. I miss Seattle-getting to see the water and even going to school. The bear's name is Luna, like the moon. My mom says that wherever we are, the moon is always the same. So now every time I look at the moon I will think of you. Write me soon, your best friend, Chan."

There was silence in the room and the nine year-old girl hugged the bear and kissed its mouth.

"I miss her a lot. But now I'll always have her with me. Hey maybe I could call her later?" Addison finally says after a moment.

"Of course kiddo," Doug tells her. She smiles and the gift opening frenzy continues.

* * *

**A/N-this chapter was a hard one for me to write. i didn't know how to get the emotion right. i'm quite happy with this verson :) R/R**


	21. 007 Days

**A/N- well here it is finally! It took me a while to write, mostly because i didn't know what to write.**

**Disclamor- i don't own them, wish i did but i don't. they beong to Wells and Zabel. Though Tyler and Addison are mine!**

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Sunday Feb. 10, 2013- My shopping cart was full to bursting. I had gotten everything I needed for the upcoming week and more. Food for lunches, snacks for after school-a lot of small things that especially Tess and Addy could just drop into their dance bags and have to eat during a break in their lessons; a few things that I really needed like shampoo and lotion, and a gift card for Tyler's friend whose birthday party is on Saturday.

"Have a nice day!" the cashier calls after me once I've checked out. I smile back at him and make my way out to my car. It's already starting to get dark, and the air has gotten colder since I went into the store and hour ago. I slam the trunk closed and quickly get into the driver's seat, turning the key to start the heater. Once the car has warmed a little bit, I turn for home.

"No really guys, I don't need help," I say to my family who didn't even flinch when I open the garage door with the only free finger I had left after carrying more bags than I should be.

"Kate, go help mom," Doug says not looking away from the basketball game he's watching.

"Tess, go help mom," Kate says to her twin also not looking away from the game.

"Addy, go help momma," Tess says putting the book she was reading on her chest and looking at her younger sister who's coloring on the coffee table.

"Ok," the young girl says jumping up. I had already put the bag I was carrying on the kitchen counter. I direct the girl back out to the car to grab the last of the bags.

"Hey where's Tyler?" I ask.

"I don't know," I the unanimous answer I get in return. I sigh, shake my head and return to putting away the groceries. Sometimes I wonder about my family.

Monday Feb.11, 2013- "Don't forget, Addy has her test today, so make sure you're at the studio by four thirty. She really wants you there this time," Carol says to me as she finishes making coffee to take to work.

"Ok. Don't worry I'll be there," I say zipping my lunch bag closed. The kids are flittering around. All four of them going in a hundred different directions. "Alright guys, we are leaving in ten minutes whether you're ready or not." I tell all four of them who have finally sat down to eat breakfast.

"Tyler, I put lunch money in your backpack, make sure it gets to Ms. Sandy ok?" Carol asks our son who had milk dripping down his chin. He nods a reply and continues to scoop spoonfuls of Froot Loops into his mouth.

I slip on my coat and watch as once again there are four kids rushing around: Tess tying her shoes, Kate trying to find her favorite sweatshirt, Addison runs off to the bathroom to fix the headband that has fallen down her face, and Tyler is playing with toys; my plan to leave early to get the kids to school on time has once again failed.

"If we don't go now, you are going to be late. Let's move!" I say my voice rising slightly. Tess, Addy and Tyler are the first to follow me out into the car, and after waiting another ten minutes Kate finally runs out of the house.

"I swear Kate, if we are late for first period because of you-"Tess begins but doesn't finish her threat. We all know what she's thinking. I'm thinking that I have half an hour to get four kids to two schools, and get to work before my shift starts at eight thirty.

[] []

After the eventful morning, the day was less eventful. Mostly full of bruises and scrapes, though a little kid did come in with a broken leg after falling in gym class that day. I barely had time for lunch. My shift ended at four and I high tailed it to the girl's dance studio to watch Addy's test.

"What did I miss?" I ask Carol breathlessly after finding her sitting with all the other parents.

"Nothing yet, they are still testing the beginning class," she tells me.

"Good," I say taking the empty seat next to her. Now I don't know much about dance but what I do know is that I love watching my daughter dance. She has a certain grace on stage, it makes me so proud.

The piano music ends and I look up to see the beginning class bow and begin clapping to their teacher. They make their way off the floor and gather up their belongings, some slipping sweat pants over their tights, other's just remove their shoes and leave the room.

"Ok now the level one girls please come to the floor. You will have five minutes to stretch and warm up and then the test will begin," the ballet instructor says and a group of about twenty girls stand and move to the center of the room. Some of the girls are older than my daughter, some younger. Through the sea of black leotards and pink tights, I find my daughter. Addison is in the second row of the group and has a huge smile on her face.

The warm-up period ends and the instructor motions for the girl to stand again. The music starts and the test begins. I'm lost after the first ten seconds. Ballet confuses me so I just focus on Addison. Grace and concentration covers her face.

The longest half hour of my life just ended. I swear to god, if I ever have to hear another song on piano or see another pirouette again I will go crazy. Despite all of the torture I went through, the test went very well. Carol and I have migrated outside and are sitting on one of the many benches lining the lobby of the dance studio. We watch as classes are let out and others start.

"Hey mom, hey dad," Tess say as she squats down beside her large dance bag.

"Hey kid, how did it go?" I ask her.

"Great. Jenna taught us a combo and I finally got a triple. Of course it was only once but I still got it," she says taking clothes out of the bag.

"That's great Tess!' Carol tells her kissing the top of her head. She smiles then walks towards the bathroom to change out of her sweaty dance clothes.

Silence comes over the two of us again. By the time Addison comes out of her test, Tess has changed and we are one of the few left in the studio.

"Hey ladybug, what happened?" Carol asks her. She's holding a piece of paper. She sits on the floor, hand the paper to her mom and begins to remove her ballet shoes.

I can hear Carol audibly gasp and look over to see what it is.

"Oh Addy, that's wonderful!" she says. I can see a huge smile on the nine year-olds face. She should be happy. Addison Paige Ross successfully completed level one ballet and will be taking level two classes in the fall.

"This calls for a celebration! Ice cream for everyone!" I say the girls jump up quickly, putting their dance bags over their shoulders.

We find Tyler playing with the younger girls, and leave for our celebration.

Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013- "Hey mom, can you sign this for me? I need it for school," Tess comes into the living room holding a salmon colored piece of paper.

"What is it?" I ask her looking at the paper with suspicion.

"My course request from for school next year." That's right; Tess and Kate were going to be in high school next year. God help us.

"Yea, let me see it," I looked at the paper. Seven classes, with two alternates. "Marching band?" I ask.

"It wasn't my idea. In order to stay in band I have to do it," she says

"Oh I would pay big money to see Tess at band camp," Kate says coming into the room after changing into her pajamas. Tess sticks her tongue out at her twin and shoves her playfully in the arm.

"Be nice," I say to them, laughing slightly. I hand the paper back to my daughter. She thanks me then turns to her room. "Where's your paper?" I ask Kate. She has slumped onto the couch and is tossing a tennis ball between her hands.

"I got dad to sign it," she say not meeting my eyes. I believe her, Kate Is not the type of person to lie. Break the rules sometimes, sure, but not lie.

Wednesday Feb. 13, 2013- _Pick Tyler up for his appointment, Will get T and A after dance. Love you._ Carol had a full day of work, so it was up to me to make sure Tyler got to his Neurology appointment on time.

After being diagnosed with epilepsy two years ago, Tyler has been on medication to control his seizures. Every six months we go and get him checked out and to see if the medication is working. So far things have been great, but this time is for a matter not closely related to seizures.

"Daddy!" Tyler runs the last few feet and hugs me. I had just picked him up from school.

"Hey buddy, ready to go?" he nods. I take his hand and together we head for the car. The ride to the doctors doesn't take us very long and before I know it we're there.

"I wanna push the button!" Ty shouts running up to the elevator. I smile as he stands on tip-toe to reach the 'up' button.

[] []

"Tyler Ross?" the nurse calls our name and we head through the doors. They take his height and weight then the nurse brings us to a room, closes the door and once again we are left alone.

A few minutes later, a knock comes on the door and the doctor walks in.

Simon Capra is one of the best pediatric neurologist's in the country. Luckily for us, his office is located not far from our home.

"Hey Tyler," he says shaking the boy's hands, then mine. "So, have we had any seizures sine I saw you last?" Tyler looks at me.

"No, thankfully," I reply. Dr. Capra nods and scribbles something in Tyler's chart.

"What about headaches?" Tyler shakes his head 'no.' "Well it seems as though everything checks out," he stands and reaches to shake our hands again. "If that's all-"

"Actually no," I say. "Tyler was wondering if he is healthy enough to play hockey in the fall," I look at the doctor then to my son who is nodding like crazy.

"Well I don't see why not. He's been seizure free for two years, he's healthy. Sure Ty, go have fun. Just be careful. Getting hit might make you have another seizure," Tyler didn't care. All he knew was he had gotten permission to play a sport he had fallen in love with.

"Ok. Thank you," another round of handshakes and we leave, after making a follow up appointment for six months.

[] []

"Don't worry, he will be fine. They have ways to keep him safe, and even make it so he can't get hit," I tell Carol later that night as we ready for bed.

"I just don't know. He's the smallest in his class. I'm afraid he's going to get squished or hurt."

"There is always a risk for that, eve in kids twice his size. All we can do is watch and see. At least let him try, he really wants this." I look at her smiling sideways. Finally after a moment she smiles too. I always win.

Thursday February 14, 2013- "well aren't we pink this morning," I say as I walk past Addison's room on my way to get coffee. She's putting the finishing touches on the outfit she's wearing to school: A pink sweater with a heart on it, a pink layered skirt, with white leggings, link socks and while Mary Jane's.

"Mommy I can't get my hair the same like you did it," she says a frown crossing her face.

"Here let me help you," I say taking the pink hairbands from her. Pig-tails?" I ask. She nods and before long two long, perfect pig-tails fall down the girl's back.

"Thanks," she says showing a smile with missing teeth.

"No go down stairs and get some breakfast, we are leaving soon," she picks up her backpack and leaps out her bedroom door and scampers down the stars. I can only smile and shake my head.

[] []

"Tess has a secret admirer!" I had only been home for a few minutes and already I was bombarded with shouts from my kids.

"What?" I ask Kate, talking a seat on one of the chairs by the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

"Candy Grams were delivered today and Tess got one from a secret admirer," I turn and look at Tess who is smiling like a psycho.

"Did you really?" I ask her. She nods, still smiling. Finally she holds up the bag of sweethearts she had been clutching in her hand.

"The note said I was cute and that my smile lich up his heart. Oh mom this is the best day of my life," Tess was absolutely exstatic. She had never liked a boy before, or had a boy like her, so this was all new and exciting to her.

"Well I'm happy for you. Maybe soon we will get to meet this prince charming," I say standing up.

"Oh I hope so," she says.

I begin taking things or of the fridge to make dinner and I hear the garage door open.

"Hey dad," Tess and Kate call over their shoulders. My back is turned to his but I can hear his footsteps coming around the counter. He leans down and I fell his arms come around my torso.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he says into my ear, his voice low and deep.

"Happy Valentine's Day," I say turning to face him. I catch his lips in mine and we stay like that frozen in time.

"Ew, mom, dad that is so gross!" the twins yell at us. I smile against Doug's mouth.

"Well if it's gross, why are you watching?" Doug asks. I laugh. He nods his head off to the side and the two seventh graders quickly gather their homework and leave the room muttering something about how parents aren't supposed to do things like that. I'm still laughing. He turns toward me and wraps his arms around my neck. I smile and return the gesture. His lips meet mine, softer, gentler this time, not as much force, it's nice. Slowly the kisses escalade, our lips open and our tongues explore each other's mouths. He tastes sweet, like cotton candy. I feel his hands come up my neck, his fingers running through my hair.

What a great Valentine's Day.

Friday February 15, 2013- It's game day. The Tyee Middle School eighth grade inter scholastic basketball team is versing their arch rivals the Highland Middle School Eagles. All four of us- Tess, Tyler, Carol and I found seats in the bleachers. Everything was going fine until-

"Oh my god, there he is," Tess had crouched down in her seat. She was looking at the other side of the bleachers but didn't make eyes contact with anyone.

"What? Who?" I ask looking too.

"Dad! Don't look he'll see you."

"Who," Carol asked pulling Tess's head onto her shoulder.

"Braden Austin. He's in my band and math class. Mom he is _so_ cute." She said smiling.

"Is he the one who sent you that valentine yesterday?"

"I'm not sure, but I hope so," Tess said lifting her head still smiling. The game had started and we sat watching, all talk of Braden Austin long forgotten.

"Hey Tess, wanna go walk around with us?" a group of girls called up to us. I nodded and the girl stood up and stepped down the bleachers. I looked at the group again and finally noticed why my daughter had jumped up so quickly.

"Hi Braden!" I called in my most girly-sing-songy voice. Tess's face turned from shock to embarrassment in a millisecond.

"Dad you are so embarrassing!" she screamed before running out of the gym. Carol hit my shoulder and chasses after Tess. I did feel bad, I knew she liked him. I was just trying to be funny. Obviously Tess didn't get my joke.

I didn't hear from either girl until after the game, which we won. I found Carol and Tess sitting in the car. Both of them looked mad and Tess looked as though she had been crying.

"Look Tess I'm sorry. I didn't think. I'm sorry.," I said to my daughter as I drove home. The back seat was silent and when I looked back I saw Tess leaning on her twin sister's shoulder. Kate met my eyes in shook her head in disappointment.

Well that went well.

Saturday February 16, 2013- "Hey, we're leaving in a minute. Do you want to come with?" I asked the twins. Kate shook her head no, said she was going to shoot hoops with a friend from her team. Tess smiled and sat up from her bed.

"Yes I'll come." she said. "I'm still mad at dad," she said to me as we went down the stairs.

"I know you are honey. He felt really bad about what he did. He's new to the whole boy thing. give him time."

"Mom, he totally embarrassed me in front of my friends. I'll be lucky if I have a spot at the lunch table Monday. Worst of all Braden was standing right there. I bet he thinks I'm a total freak," she said slumping into one of the chairs in the kitchen.

"Oh I don't think that. Just give it the weekend, this whole thing will blow over, promise," I said kissing the crown of her head. "Tyler James, if you are not ready in the next sixty second, I am taking that gift back," I called to my son. He came rushing into the kitchen. His hair had been styled with gel and he was wearing a nice polo shirt and non-ripped jeans. "Well don't we look nice," I say to him.

"Oooo Tyler has a girlfriend," Tess said, her voice sing-songy in an attempt to rile up her brother. "What's her name?"

"I'm not tellin' you!" he said.

"Alright, alright, let's go," I say ushering them to the car.

[] []

Utter chaos. That's the only way to describe what I saw. Ten four and five year-olds running and screaming around the lobby of the inflatable playground where the party would be held.

Tyler ran ahead of us and found his friends. I made the round saying hello to all of the mom's that were still there. Tess had found a seat on an empty bench. Little girls were surrounding her, probably asking about being a 'big girl.'

"Hey Carol, look at Tyler," Linda, the birthday girl's mom said to me pointing to me son. I look up and see him full on flirting with another little girl."

"Oh, whose the girl?" I ask no one in particular.

"Her name is Gabbie and apparently Ty has been flirting with her since she started school two weeks ago," Linda explained to me. I smiled.

Just then Linda's daughter Samantha ran up to me mom.

"Mommy Ali is here we can start now!" she said pointing to a blonde girl who had just come through the door. With her was none other than Braden Austin.

"Is Braden that girl's brother," I asked Linda as we walked into the party room. She nodded.

"Why?" she asked

"Because Tess has a crush on him," I said to her. She nodded finally understanding the importance of the brother of her daughter's classmate.

Soon the noise died down in the room as all the kids went to play. The only people left were the moms, Tess and Braden. The later were off in a secluded corner talking quietly. Every once in a while I would hear Tess laugh and when I looked over at them they were holding hands.

Obviously he didn't think she was a 'freak' otherwise he wouldn't be holding her hand.

[] []

"Hey, how was the party?" Doug asks us as we come inside. It had gone well. Everyone had fun, ate too much cake. The birthday girl loved her presents. Tyler had talked to his crush and they spent the entire party together. Tess and Braden were still sitting together when the party ended and it looked as though they didn't want the other to leave. But if I do recall, I think Braden gave Tess his phone number.

I don't know whether to be happy, proud or scared.

"It was fine," I say to Doug kissing his cheek. Out of the corner of my eye I see Tess running up to her room. She's biting her lip trying to hold back the giddy smile she's had since we left the party.

Doug looks at me quizzically. I just smile, what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

* * *

**A/N-Well what did you think? I tried to put a little romance in it,being this chapter is set around Valentine's Day. I'm not very good at writing romance scenes, but i tried. Don't worry Braden Austin will return, promiseI**


	22. 072 Fixed

**A/N- Hey guys! did you miss me? of course you did. sorry i havent up loaded in a while. I was getting ready fro school and moving into my dorm, which is SO cool, my room mates are so sweet. Anyway, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**P.S- reviews are a good thing**

**Disclamor- i don't anyon of these characters, except for Add,y Tyler-they belong to me and Tree- and any other character you don't recognize :)**

* * *

October 2013

Silence in a house full of kids is never a good thing. When I walked into the kitchen after a long day of work and heard silence, I began to get scared.

There was an open ballet bag on one of chairs by the breakfast bar, and a poster still wet with glue sitting on the kitchen table. I knew at least two of my kids were home and that one of them managed to do their homework.

The back door was open and I could hear squeals and laughter. I looked through the glass a saw my three daughters jumping on our trampoline. They were playing a game and appearing to be getting along for a change. All three of them were sockless and had no coats on. I opened the door and stepped outside, the cold October night air hitting my face.

"Aren't you girls cold?" I called to them. They all stopped and looked at me.

"Yea a little, but it's fun," Kate said to me. Her nose and cheeks red from the cold. I nodded in understanding turning back for the house.

"Dinner will be ready soon," I said over my shoulder.

"Ok," they replied.

Back inside I set myself on the task of finding something to eat for dinner, choosing to just heat up a frozen pizza instead of make something. I was tired and not really in the mood to cook.

Twenty minutes later, it was as if they could smell the food through the walls of the house, because as soon as the pizza came out of the oven, the girls were there staring hungrily at the too hot to eat food.

"Hey, where's dad and Ty?" I ask in their general direction.

"Dad took Ty to hockey try-outs, I though he called you?" Tess said, finally pulling a piece of pizza onto her plate.

"No he didn't call me, unless I didn't feel my phone go off," I said taking a piece for myself. We brought or food into the living room, leaving some for the boys, and found ourselves swept up in a re-run of Keeping up with the Kardashian's. It's sad to say, but I am in love with that show, please don't tell anyone. We sat in relative silence for a while eating and relaxing after a long day.

It was pushing eight thirty before Doug and Tyler got home. The first thing I noticed when they walked into the kitchen was the giant gym bag my five year-old was carrying. It was about as big as he was, and probably weighed as much as him too.

"I'm guessing try-outs went well?" I ask Doug.

He nodded and looked down at Tyler. "Tell mommy, what happened today," he said.

"I got picked to be the second goalie," Tyler said happily. It finally clicked in my mind, that's why he had such a large bag, all of the pads a goalie used takes up a lot of room.

"He won't get to play much in games, unless the starting goalie gets hurt, or sick or something like that. The coach thought he was good enough. But the starter is good, like Jonathan Quick good," Doug said to me. I of course had no idea what he was taking about, but it must have been a good thing.

"I'm proud of you Ty," I said hugging the boy. I handed them some pizza, now cold having sat there for two hours.

I sat with them while they ate, and followed Tyler upstairs and tucked him into bed. "Good night, my little hockey player," I said kissing his cheek.

"'night mommy," he said hugging me one last time. I turned the light off and closed the door, but not all the way and padded back downstairs.

"So what does this mean for us?" I asked Doug who had found ESPN and was listening to the sports news.

"It means practices every day and games on Saturday until the end of the season," he said meeting my eyes after looking at the schedule the coaches had given him.

"Great," I said not really excited.

"Don't worry, I worked it out with the moms, one of them will take him to practice all we have to do is pick him up at the end and take him to games." He said taking my hand a giving to a squeeze.

"Oh thank god," I exhaled. It's a good thing I had such a good husband, because I don't know how I would have managed to go from work to dance to hockey to basketball, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

I got up and pinned the schedule right next to the ones for dance, basketball and school. Right in plain sight so we never forget a date, well almost never forget.

I left a half asleep Doug in front of the TV, figuring he would either come up in a few minutes or just fall asleep on the couch, and went up to bed.

I dreamt of hockey skates and ballet shoes and let me just tell you, picturing me in a tutu and pink tights is not a pretty sight. I'm glad that it's Addison who wears those instead of me.


	23. 048 Diamond

**A/N- It's me again! I've been having a very bad week in terms of writing. I know this chapter might not make much sense, but it was one of the few good ideas i had so i ran with it. So i'm sorry. hopefully this "funk" will end soon and more fabulous ideas will come to me**

**Also, i have never been in Nutcracker. I am not a ballet dancer, and have very little knowledge of this ballet. so to all my dancers out there, i am very sorry if i got all of this wrong.**

**Disclamor- I own nothing. it all belongs to Well, and Zabel, i just borrow their toys every now and then**

* * *

December 2013

Three weeks of rehearsals, two costume changes and countless hours of hearing that stupid sugar plum fairy song, the end of the semester was finally here.

Each year, the ballet program at Tess, Kate and Addison's dance studio puts on a production of the Nutcracker. Ever since she was five Addison has had a part in it, some years have been smaller than others, but she still had a part nonetheless.

Every night for nearly a month, Addy has stayed later after her regular classes for rehearsal. She loves it. The performing aspect and the fact that every year she makes new friends, and re-connects with the one's she's already had.

This year she's in three of the song in the show. We see her right in the very beginning of the show as one of the party guests. Then while she's changing costumes the show keeps going on and she comes back out in the Chinese dance and then she has one song to change into her costume for the 'Waltz of the Flowers,' apparently being cast in 'Waltz' is a big deal, because only the really skilled dancers get into it.

It's crazy back stage during the one song quick change, there is a flurry of people rushing around, but somehow we manage to get those girls on stage in time for their song.

Of course I have never gotten to see the show from the audience because I am always backstage helping the dancer change and do their hair. We always have had to watch form the little TV they set up, so that the girls know their cues, but it's not the same as actually sitting in the audience being able to see the lights in person instead of through a screen.

But after every show I always hug my dancer. She puts a ton of blood, sweat, and even a few tears into this production. I'm proud of her, and being proud makes not being able to sit with the rest of my family all the more worth it.


	24. 043 Square

**Hey guys! I loved writing this chapter. I kind of based it on things that happen between me and my own dad. Anyway, hope you like it. **

**P.S-They are not mine! well some of them are, but by now you already know that.**

* * *

February 2014

Lying on that chair, her hair fans out around her; a dark brown, almost black, just like her mother's. As it slowly rose to a sitting position, I let go of her hand. I watch as she runs her tongue along her teeth for the tenth time in the past three minutes.

"How does it feel?" I ask her as she stands up, pulling her jacket back around her shoulders.

"Weird," she says. "It's different." She smiles and I see the bits of metal stuck onto her teeth.

A few months ago, we were recommended by Addison's dentist to get her braces to fix a problem with the way she bites. We should fix it now so that in the future it wouldn't become a problem.

So here we are, two month later in an orthodontist's office getting braces for the ten year-old.

We make another appointment for the following month and leave the office.

"Dad, do I have to go back to school?" Addy asks me.

"Yes ladybug, you have to go back to school."

"But what if everyone makes fun of me?"

"Why would they do that? You didn't change. You're still the same Addison, just with things of your teeth."

"Yea but what if they do?"

"Then you ignore them. People who are mean to you don't deserve you time. But trust me kiddo, it's going to be fine." I smile at her taking her hand in mine, giving it a squeeze.

We pull up in front of her school. She opens the door and a cold wind rushes in. she looks back at me with a lost puppy look on her face. I just smile and shake my head.

"Have a good day, I'll see you later," I say.

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too," the door closes and I watch to be sure she gets inside safe. Once her small frame disappears, I head off towards work.

[] []

When I came home dinner was ready and my family was seated at the table. Kate had her basketball jersey on having just gotten home from practice. Everyone else was puttering around the kitchen setting the table for dinner

"Hey Katie, ready for the game tomorrow?" I asked hanging my coat off the back of my chair.

"Oh hell yea. If we win this one, we are going to state," she said happily. I laughed.

Kate was one of three freshmen to make her school's varsity girls' basketball team. She had to work twice has hard just to prove to the coaches and the other girls on her team that she was capable to be on the team.

I fill my plate with food and sit down to eat, when I notice Addison. Her head was propped up by her hand which rested on the table. Her lips were slightly distended to accommodate for her new braces.

"Not hungry ladybug?" I ask her. She shakes her head, her hair falling into her face.

"It hurts to eat anything," she says wiping the hair out of her eyes. "I only had yogurt for lunch, and couldn't have any of the pizza at our class party today."

"It will get better," I tell her smiling. "Until then I guess you're going to have to eat ice cream for every meal." I see her eyes light up. She smiles and nods vigorously. "We will get you some after dinner ok?" she nods again.

"So anyway," Tess begins turning the subject off her sister and onto her. "Auditions for the musical are coming up. We're doing West Side Story. And Miss Leslie said that it would be wise to know some ballet for the auditions." She not making eye contact with me or her mom, but when she does she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear nervously. "I was wondering if it would be alright if I took a few ballet privates to brush up on my skills before the auditions."

I catch Carol's eye and she cocks her head to the side as if to say _'please let her do this.' _

"If it's what you want, they you may have a few private lessons," I say to Tess. "but if your grades start to slip, I will pull you out of that play so fast you'll have skid marks on you back," I say.

"I know dad. They won't drop, promise. Thank you," she says with a smile.

[] []

Later that night, after the dinner dishes had been cleaned up, I sat on the couch, a beer in one hand, my daughter's head in the other. She had curled up under my arm an hour ago. We watched the first period of a hockey game together. She asked questions every few minutes; having watched the sport her whole life, she still had no clue how the game worked. After the first period, however, I looked over at her to find she had fallen asleep, her mouth slightly agape, long eyelashes framing her eyes.

I methodically rub her hair back and out of her face. It's something I had done to her since she started growing hair.

The time runs out and the post-game show starts. I stand, pulling her into my arms. Holding her like a baby, I slowly navigate the stairs and the dark hallway leading into her room. I lay her in bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. I squish her favorite stuffed animal up against her cheek.

I find a seat on the corner of her bed and continue rubbing her for another few minutes, until I know she's really asleep.

I stand and plant a kiss on her pink cheek.

"Good night my lovely little ladybug," I whisper. Turning to leave I hear her whisper, half asleep,

"'night daddy, love you," I can only smile to myself.

I pad back downstairs and return to my game, a smile on my face.


	25. 082 If

**We have reached a momentus ocation in this little adventure, i am offically one quarter done with it! YAY! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read this story. you have no idea how good it makes me feel to know that people are actually reading this and liking it. Now, this chapter is a little shorter than previous ones, but i liked writing it :) So enjoy! And as always, reviews are appreciated.**

**Disclamour- They aren't mine I swear!**

* * *

April 2014

"What would you say to moving back to Chicago?" Doug asked me.

I laughed. "What made you think of that?"

He shuts the photo album on his lap then looks at me.

"I don't know, looking at these old photos, the kids growing up. I've been thinking about Mark a lot lately." His gave drops and his voice lowers to almost a whisper. "I miss him," he says.

"Me too," I say leaning into his shoulder. And I do. He was my best friend. I could tell him anything. He was there for me when no one else was. Eleven years later and I still think about him every single day.

"Would you have stayed?" I ask after a while breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"If you could go back, would you have stayed? In Chicago?"

"I don't know. I mean I love living here, with you and our kids. Of course I wondered what it would have been like to raise Tess and Kate in Chicago, to still work at County, to still be with my friends. But if I had the choice, I wouldn't change a thing. I'm happy that things worked out the way they did." He grabs my hands and pulls me to my feet. His fingers curl into mine and we make our way downstairs. The house is eerily quiet, but in a good way.

He pours me a glass of wine and grabs himself a beer. We sit in the kitchen, enjoying the silence and enjoying our drinks.

That is until the front door crashes open.

"Mom your daughter is insane"

Yup wouldn't change a thing.


	26. 083 And

July 2014

The house smelled of sunscreen; towels, food and forgotten sandals were strewn all over our kitchen and living room. We were getting ready for a trip to a local water park. It was something we did every summer. We all looked forward to it.

I come downstairs, pulling a shirt over my head and am almost flattened by my ten year-old daughter.

"Sorry dad!" she calls over her shoulder as she races back upstairs. I walk into the kitchen and see Carol with her back to me. I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. I kiss her cheek and jaw line.

"Ew! You taste like sun block!" I say stepping back. She laughs and turns.

"Well I wasn't expecting you to kiss my face before we left," she says smiling.

I fill a mug with coffee and put milk and sugar into it. I reach into the bag and pull out a few chips before Carol slaps my wrist.

"Those are for later," she says glaring at me.

I look down at the ground, playing the sad puppy card. She scoffs and turns away muttering something about how I'm like the fifth kid in this family.

"Tess, can you go to the basement and grab the big cooler for me?" Carol calls across the room to our eldest daughter who is finishing her breakfast. She nods and makes her way out of the room. "Hey, what do you want on your sandwich?" she asks turning towards me.

"Mayonnaise and mustard, please," I say.

Tess returns dragging the large cooler behind her. "I put the ice packs in it too," the girl says.

"Thanks bear," Carol says putting the finishing touches on my sandwich. She zips the bag closed then begins to fill the cooler with food.

"Mom don't forget, the boys are all at Braden's house," Tess says putting her, now empty, bowl into the sink.

In addition to our family, we would be taking along four tag-alongs. Tess and Kate were bringing three of their friends, one of which was Tess' boyfriend Braden. The fourth was Addison's dance best friend, Hannah.

"Speaking of which," Carol said turning to face me. "How are we doing about the car thing? Because the van won't fit all of us."

"I'll take Ty, Addy and Hannah in my car, you can take the twins and their friends," I say. Quick and easy solution. "Besides, I really don't think they want to ride in a car for an hour and a half with their dad," I say smiling.

"Yea you're right. So food in your car or mine?"

"Mine. I have more room in the back."

She nods and snaps the cooler shut. She walks out of the kitchen, pulling her hair up and out of her face, her sandals flapping against the bottoms of her feet. Three of our four kids are standing around, ready to go. Each carrying their own towel, goggles and whatever else they need for the ride there or for the day.

"Tess, Kate, go put the cooler into the back of dad's car please," Carol says. The two walk off to the kitchen, returning a minute later the cooler between them. I hand my keys to Kate, who sticks them in-between her teeth because she doesn't have a hand to carry them.

"Addison Paige, if you are not down here in the next five seconds, we are leaving without you," Carol calls up the stairs.

Addison appears at the top of the stairs, turns a quick pirouette before running the rest of the way down to us.

"What were you doing up their?" Carol asks.

"I was finishing the chapter I was on. I had to find out what happened next," Addy says smiling.

Carol nods and leads the girl outside. We meet the older two halfway up the driveway.

"Tess and Kate, get in the van. Ty and Addy are with dad," Carol says walking around her car and getting in the driver's seat.

"I get shotgun!" the two youngest kids shouted at the same time, reaching for the door handle. They started pushing each other out of the way. I stood between them, making sure they didn't kill each other.

"Okay, here's how it's going to work," I started. "Addy will get the front seat on the way there; Tyler gets it on the way home. Deal?"

"Deal," they both say. I open their doors and they slide in.

We back out of the drive way headed off to pick up Addison's friend. As Carol and he twins leave in the opposite direction to get the boys.

[] []

"Finally dad's here, now can we go?" I hear Kate ask her mom as we find them in our favorite meeting spot.

"Sorry, we got caught in traffic," I say kissing Carol on the cheek.

"It's fine. Hey Hannah," she say waving hello to Addy's friend. The girl smiles and waves back before returning to the conversation she was having with my daughter.

"Dad, I want you to meet my friends," Tess says dragging her sister and friends over, mostly unwillingly. I knew who Braden was and the other two I had seen in passing. They were either about five-nine or six feet fall. One had ling shaggy blond hair; the other had short black hair that was spiked up. "This is Gizzy," she said pointing to the blonde.

"You can call me Jonathan," he said coming up and shaking my hand. I nod, I really like this boy.

"And this is Marco," she said motion to the other boy.

"I'm Lucas," he said. I could tell he was shy and didn't talk much, but still a good kid.

"_Now _can we go?" Tess asked looking at her mom, pleading with her silently to let them go and not be embarrassed anymore.

"Yes, you can go now. Check in in three hours, go it?" Carol asked meeting our daughter's eyes

The teenager nods and takes off with her friends saying something about a Tortuga.

"Come on Tyler, let's get away from all these girls," I say taking my son's hand. We walk off leaving Carol and the younger girls behind.

[] []

Hours later, Tyler and I return. Out swim trunks are still dripping wet and Tyler's long hair has fallen into his eyes. We reach the picnic table we had claimed, I find our towels, handing one to my son and wiping my face with the other.

Carol and Addison have their noses buried in their books. They're sitting in the folding chairs we had brought with us, their feet propped up on the bench of the fable in front of them.

"Hey Addy, where's Hannah?" I ask sitting down next to her feet.

"She went with Tess and Kate and the boys. They were going to try out the surfing thing and I didn't want to go," she said not meeting my eyes.

We all sit in silence for a while; the girls reading their books and Tyler and I trying to dry off a little bit.

However the comfortable slience is broken by screaming. I don't know whose voice it is until it gets close enough for me to see. They boys have the girls on their backs, and they look to be racing each other to see who can reach the table first. The girls are screaming and laughing, huge smiles cover their faces.

They reach the table and the girls slide down to the ground. The dive for the cooler and begin eating hungrily.

"Dude Gizzy, your face is bright red!" Kate says.

"What happened?" I ask

"He totally ate it on that surfing ride. It was hilarious," Kate says laughing.

All of the older kids start laughing too, which leads to them teasing Jonathan.

The throw their trash away and take off once more. Carol calls after them to meet back here and three o'clock, I don't think they heard her, but if it makes her feel better, so be it.

I stand and turn to leave. "Tyler are you coming?" I ask

He shakes his head. "I'm going to stay here."

I nod and turn toward the younger girls.

"Alright girls, looks like it's just us." The smile and we head off into the park. We find a map and I stand in front of it. "Which ride do you want to go on?" I ask them.

They both point to the exact same ride: a water roller coaster of sorts. It's the newest one in the park and they had been talking about it nonstop all day.

"Are you sure you want to ride that one?" I ask. They both say yes and quickly rush off towards the line. I, having no other choice, run off to catch them

[] []

We only had time to do that one ride, the line was so long. But oh my gosh, it was so fun. We all got soaking wet, but enjoyed it.

"And when we went over that one hill and floated for a minute, that was awesome!" Addison and Hanna were still talking about the ride. I think it was their favorite of the whole day.

We get back to our spot, everything has been packed up. Tess, Kate and their friends are standing around. The boys are wrestling on the nearby grass with Tyler, who is laughing.

"I'm going to go get changed and then we can go," I say to Carol as I grab my clean clothes out of the bag. She nods.

"Tess, Kate, watch your brother. I'm going to help Addy get changed," Carol says as she leads Addison and Hannah towards the bathroom to change.

After returning our tubes and buying a snack for the drive home, we exit the park and walk to the cars. Everyone is talking about our day and telling our favorite rides.

I wrap my arm around Carol's shoulder, and kiss her temple.

"Today was fun, I'm glad we did it," she says. I smile and nod.

"Yes, it was."

We reach the car and I unlock it and pull open the trunk. I toss the now empty cooler in and slam it shut.

As we leave the parking lot, there is complete silence in my car. I look in my mirror and see that Addy has he head on Hannah's should and they are both fast asleep. I look to my right and find Tyler damn near close to sleep. He's looking out the window and nothing. I turn the music down and close the windows that we opened to cool the car down.

I get onto the highway and end up stuck right in the middle of traffic.

A long car ride home to end a long, but fun, day with my family.


	27. 011 Red

September 2014

"I'm not coming out," I hear Kate say from behind the dressing room door.

I had taken the twins dress shopping for homecoming. They didn't go last year because Tess had a marching band competition on the same day, and by the time she got back she was too tired to go. Kate didn't go because she didn't have a date and all of her friends had dates and she didn't want to be a third wheel.

But this year everything changed. Marching band didn't have a competition, and they both had dates. Tess was going with Braden and Kate was going with their friend Lucas. They were going just as friends, nothing more.

We had spent the better part of the afternoon going from store to store looking for the perfect dress.

Having two identical twin girls, you think it would be easy finding dresses, but no. They may be identical but they are definitely not alike: a dancing, performing girly-girl and an athletic tom-boy.

This is going to be a long day.

"Cone on Kate at least let us look at it. It can't be that bad," I say to her.

"No way. I look stupid," she whines.

Tess looks up from the rack of dresses she's looking at. She sighs and shakes her head as she pads barefoot over the dressing rooms. She knocks on the door.

"Kate, let me in. I promise there is no one here," she says he mouth next the crack in between the door and the frame. She waits a minute and slowly the door opened just enough for the girl to squeeze into the room.

"Kate you have to be kidding me. You look amazing!" Tess said loud enough for me to hear clearly. "Open the door. I think this is the one." There is a pause in the conversation and the twins are whispering to each other.

After a moment, the door opens. Kate stands there in a short red one shoulder dress. It has a sleeve that is cut out at her shoulder and a sequined strap that connects the cut out to the rest of the dress. It frames her body beautifully, making her thin, athletic frame look amazing.

She's standing awkwardly, not really knowing what to think. Dresses aren't really Kate's thing, but she wears them beautifully.

"So," she says, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

"I love it Kate you look so beautiful," I say; tears coming to my eyes.

"Oh god, mom please don't cry," she says. I nod wiping at the corner of my eyes.

She turns and closes the door once more. She comes out a few minutes later, dressed, the dress hanging off her arm. She's smiling now.

"I think I'm going to get this one," she says. "At first I didn't know what to think but then Tess texted a picture of it to Tessa and Carla and they both loved it, so now I have no choice," she says smiling.

Thank god for best friends.

One down one to go.

But of course Tess chose her dress fairly quickly. It was down to either a blue strapless or a white halter; she chose the blue one. Then she had to call Braden to make sure he knew her dress was blue so he could match her.

Four hours after entering the mall, we left bags in tow.

I think both girls were happy with the choices they made. They better be, I spent a lot of good money on those dresses.

[] []

_Two weeks later (Doug's POV)_

I get home from working a twelve hour shift, all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed. I head up stairs, but is I'm walking I hear Carol's voice form the living room.

"I wouldn't go up there if I were you," she says.

"Why not?" I ask taking a step down.

"The girl's and their friends are upstairs getting ready for the dance. They won't even let me come up there."

"But they're in their room right? So why I can't I just go up there and take a quick shower?" I'm practically whining now. God I hate working twelve hour shifts.

"You can't. I said they could use our bathroom. It gives them a little more privacy."

I groan and finish down the steps. I walk into the living and drop onto the couch with another groan.

"Don't worry they're leaving soon. The boys will be here any minute. They are just hiding out in the room because they don't want to be seen in their dresses until the very last minute," she says moving to sit next to me. She leans into my side and I put my arm around her shoulder. We sit in silence, half listening to the TV and half for the doorbell.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rings and I quickly stand to answer it. Standing outside looking completely out of their element are five boys. I know two of them to be my daughter's dates and the others I assume to be the dates of their friends.

"Hey guys, come on it," I tell them standing aside as the all walk in.

"Guys their here!" Addison calls running back towards the master bedroom. I didn't even notice she was watching form the top of the stairs and apparently she had been made lookout for the group of girls.

A moment later I hear the sound of high heeled shoes hitting hardwood floor. One by one five girls descend the stairs. Some lifting their dresses as to not trip and fall, others hold tightly to the railing to not fall in their shoes.

They stand in front of their dates. The boys awkwardly give the girls flower corsages. Obviously some of them are dating because there is also some kissing involved, but I try and look away from that.

"You girls look so beautiful," I say to all the girls, but to my twin girls in particular.

Tess and Kate smile and hug me saying they were hoping I would be home to see them in their dresses and they were glad I made it.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," I tell them. And I mean it.

"Oh dad, let me introduce everyone," Tess says. "This is Devin and Daniel," she says pointing to a taller brunette girl in a strapless white dress. She's standing next to a slightly shorter boy with long brown hair. "That's Carla and Christopher," she says pointing out Kate's friend from Basketball and her boyfriend. They both had blonde hair and she's wearing a light blue dress which brings out her blue eyes. "And Tessa and Kyle," she points to a girl with red hair and a boy about a foot taller than her, even though she's in heels. "And of course, you know Marco," she says pointing to Kate's date. The shy teenager waves to me, smiling slightly.

"Nice to see you again Lucas," I say to him.

I now can finally look at my girls. They both had different dresses, but both look beautiful. Of course I say that, but I'm slightly biased. Tess has managed to straighten her wild curls and they frame her face, puller up on one side. Kate's hair had been pulled out of her face by little braids that meet in the back with a jewel encrusted clip.

"Ok picture time," Carol says coming out of the living room holding her camera. All of the kids groan. Carol scoffs quickly. "Oh come on a few pictures are not going to kill you."

"Yes they are mom. We'll all melt into a puddle of good," Kate says sarcastically laughing. Everyone else laughs along with her, easing some of the tension.

"All right, all right; everyone on the stairs. Tall people in back, smaller people in front," Carol says direction the kids to where they should be. We snap a few pictures of the group then some of just the girls and just then just the boys and finally we do just the couples.

Finally all of the pictures have been taken and the girls have run back upstairs to grab coats, purses and check their hair and makeup one more time before they leave.

They clomp back downstairs and slowly head out the door where a black limousine is waiting in the street.

"What is this?" I ask in utter disbelief.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, Kyle's parents are treating us with a limo for the dance. They are renting it for prom and decided that since it's Kyle's and Tessa's senior that they should have it for both dances," Tess explains.

"You didn't have to do that," I say turning to the boy I had only met an hour before, and who is two years older than my daughters.

"No, it's fine. My parents won't mind them coming," he says smiling.

I smile and nod. "Do you girl have everything?" I ask my daughter. They nod and walk over hugging Carol and I one last time before following their friends. "We'll leave the light on," I call. They turn back and wave. We watch until they are out of site and then turn back to the house.

'You're not crying are you?" Carol asks watching me wipe at my eyes.

"Of course not," I say badly denying the fact I was crying, but only a little bit.

"You are such a bad liar," she says smiling, kissing my cheek.

"But that's why you love me," I say finally getting to go upstairs and shower.

"Yes right," I hear her say as I walk upstairs. I can only smile and shake my head.

[] []

_Saturday, 9:35 pm (Doug's POV)_

I wasn't expecting the twins and their girlfriends to be home from the dance until late, so when I hear a key turning in the lock and nine-thirty at night, I knew something was up.

"You girls are home early," I say to them as they come into the living room and position themselves on the chairs and couch.

"Yea neither did we," Kate says her voice has disappointment written all over it.

"What happened?" I ask, now very curious as to what could shut down a high school dance.

"Well first, some dumb freshmen football player set off the fire alarm, so we all had to evacuate the school. Then some kids in my Spanish class started a fight because this one guy was dater the other one's ex-girlfriend. And when Braden tried to break them up, he got punched and his nose started bleeding," she said pointing to a blood stain down the front of her dress. The freshman was suspended for two weeks and is not allowed to play in the next three games and the two kids in my class have a month's detention for fighting," She said obviously disappointed.

"Is Braden ok?" I ask turning to Tess.

"Of course he is. It wasn't broken or anything," she said shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal.

"Well I'm sorry your night ended horribly." I say to them.

"It's ok," they all say. They get up and head for the stairs, stopping at the door to pick up their discarded shoes.

"Not too loud alright?" I call to them.

"Ok" they yell back laughing. I smile. By the time I head up to bed, it's pushing midnight. I decide to check up on the girls and their friends who, as originally planned, have slept over.

I open the door to Tess and Kate's room. All five girls are all over the room, some on the beds others covered in blankets on the floor or on the beanbags they brought up from the basement. Some Disney movie is playing on Kate's open laptop.

"just wanted to say goodnight," I say.

"Ok, good night dad," my daughters say, coming up and hugging me.

"Goodnight Dr. Ross," their friends say. I turn and leave, closing the door behind me.

As I walk don't the hall to my room I can head the group of teenage girls laughing about something. Somehow they have turned a night of disappointment into a night of fun with friends. I really like that.


	28. 092 Christmas

**A/N: Hello my friends. Miss me? I've been really busy with school but the semester is almost over and them i will be on break for four weeks. I will have TONS of time to write and get things rolling again. Ok, now onto the boring stuff. This chapter is dedicated to all of my 'Nerd Herd' friends (you know who you are). I put a lot of nerdy stuff in here one because i like it and B because it's exposition for a later chapter. Now for those of you who don't know what Firefly is or the New York Comic-Con planel I speak of in this chapter (which is the one from October 2012), go onto Youtube and look it up. That panel is the cutest thing ever. Anyway i should probably go and let you read. Enjoy!**

* * *

December 2014-Christmas Eve

I walk into the kitchen and immediately spot my daughter. Her black leotard and tan tights, rolled up at the ankle, create a drastic color difference from her normal skin tone. She stands by the toaster waiting for her bread, Nutella and a knife ready for when the time comes.

I walk to the coffee maker filling my travel mug and add cream and sugar to it. I missed the sound of the toaster popping, but when I turn around she's spreading a thick layer of the gooey chocolate peanut butter like spread onto the toast. She swiftly cuts it diagonally down the middle, and moves to a seat the breakfast bar, a cup of milk and her open laptop in front of her.

I clear my throat loudly, and watch as she jumps about a foot at the sudden noise.

"Oh my god, dad! Don't do that. I though you already left?" she asked.

"Nah, don't have to leave for another half hour," I say taking the chair next to her. I look at the screen of her computer and find a paused video. "What are you watching?" I ask curiously.

"A panel Jewel, Sean and Nathan did at New York Comic Con back in October," she says taking a bite of her breakfast. She plays the video. I listen, confused the whole time, but my daughter laughs at all of the inside jokes I must be missing.

She pauses the video, and takes her empty cup and plate to the sink. She sits back down and quickly plays it again. Once again, I look on confused, she's laughing and smiling.

"Ok, fill me in. what am I missing?" I ask her, trying to get a grasp on what she's been laughing about.

"Dad, it's _Firefly_," she says giving me a look as if to say 'duh, you should know this.'

"Ok I get that," I know about that Sci-Fi show she and her sister have been in love with for the past two years. "But I don't understand why it's so funny," I say talking about the part we had just stopped on.

"It's funny because it happened ten years ago and she still hasn't dropped it," she says smiling,

I nod in understanding but still not fully grasping the joke.

A knock comes to the door; she stands and is quick to answer it. I hear her talking quietly to someone, and she returns a moment later.

"That's Kendra," she says speaking of her friend from dance who is taking her to Nutcracker today for their matinée performance. She slips her feet into ratty, old skate shoes, and throws her large, black dance bag over her shoulder. She wraps her arms around my neck, and I pull her in closer for a tighter hug.

"Bye dad," she says pulling away.

"Bye ladybug, have fun. I'll pick you up after the show," I say. She nods, smiles and turns to follow her friend outside. I hear the door shut and turn to finish my now cold coffee.

[] []

"Thanks guys!" I call over my shoulder to the ladies who work the cash register at our favorite mom-and-pop Japanese restaurant. I had just picked up our order for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. I set the bags on the seat next to me and drive home.

The garage door closes behind me as I walk up the stairs and into the warmer-than-outside house. I hand off the bags to a waiting Carol and slip my coat and shoes off. She meticulously unpacks the bags and sets each open container onto the counter.

Addison walked into the kitchen, hair wet from a shower. She sits on one of the chair at the counter and pulls up the leg of her purple sweat pants. She slides a back knee brace on before re-covering her leg and grabbing a plate for food.

"Knee bothering you again?" Carol asks her. She nods and goes on to tell us how towards the end of Nutcracker that night, her knee had swollen up and started hurting for no reason. "Well if it's still bothering you after the holidays, we'll have to get it checked out," Carol said taking a bite of sushi from the container in front of her as she stood in front of the counter

The other three kids had smelled the food and found spots all over the kitchen with plates of food in front of them. Tess had found a perch on top of the counter; Kate, Addy and I were sitting in actual chairs at the table and Tyler ran back and forth between the hockey game he was watching to his food.

"So, what's Braden doing for Christmas?" Carol asked Tess about her boyfriend.

"He's going to church tonight with his family. He's singing in the choir with his sister. And tomorrow, I think they are going over to his grandparents' house. He texted me earlier if he could come over sometime tomorrow, probably in the afternoon before he leaves. I told him I'd call him later with an answer," she says taking another bite of her food.

"I don't see why not," I say to her. "Just so long as he doesn't leave his family for you."

"I don't think he will. Besides it won't be for very long," She smiles.

Once everyone has eaten their fill, and Tess has called Braden back with permission for him to come over tomorrow, we all find spots in the living room to watch our traditional Christmas Eve movie. Tess and Kate had taken over one half of the couch, covering themselves in a blanket, their feet propped up by a stool. Addison lay across my lap, somehow a blanket was spread across both of us, her feet curled up against Kate's legs. Carol leaned against my shoulder with Tyler on her lap, both of them covered in a blanket. How we all fit onto that couch I'll never know, but somehow we did.

The timer on the microwave buzzed and Carol got up, putting Tyler in her place, to get the popcorn.

"Don't start the movie without me," she called over her shoulder. She returned a minute later with two bowls of popcorn; one was passed down for the girls to share and the other was passed between Carol, Tyler and I.

Soon the lights were turned off and the movie was played. The previews took a few minutes, all the while Tyler saying that he wanted to see every movie there was an Ad for. Soon the main menu for the film came up.

"Why are we watching this? It's not even a Christmas movie!" Kate protested.

"Because dad hasn't seen it yet and he told me he wanted too, so we're going to watch it," Addison say to her sister.

"If you don't want to watch, you don't have too," I say to me second oldest child.

"I never said that," she retorts before taking another handful of popcorn.

I pressed play and the movie started.

I do have to agree with Kate, it's not a Christmas movie. But after watching that video with Addison that morning, I was curious as to what I was missing out on. So I had asked Addy if it was alright with her if we watched it. She agreed happily, glad that I wanted to be involved in something she loved.

_Serenity_ was the movie sequel to the TV Series _Firefly_. Addison had told me that the film was redemption for the cast. Seeing as how the series had been canceled after only eleven episodes, I could see how it was redemption. She told me that the fans had rallied and tried to get the show back, but failed. But they were ecstatic when they movie was announced. How she knew all of this was beyond me.

As the movie progressed further and further, I found myself getting into it. I fell in love with Kaylee and kind of thought Jayne was trouble. I loved the action and the humor that was embedded into the movie.

The whole time we were watching Tess and Addison were saying the dialogue under their breaths. They had seen the movie more times that I like to think and knew exactly what was coming.

I'm not going to spoil the ending but after I was it, I agree with every other Firefly fan in the world: Joss Whedon is an ass hole, a genius, but an ass hole.

After the movie, everyone was sent to bed. The younger tow protested that they weren't tired yet, but I threatened to tell "Santa" to take back all their gifts if they didn't get to bed, and they went not another word out of their mouths.

Carol and I crawl into bed after setting out the presents. I plant open mouthed kisses along her pulse point and slowly life the hem of her shirt. I put my hand on her bare stomach, sending a chill down her spine. I throw my legs over her, a low moan escaping her mouth…

[] []

Christmas morning dawned cold. I looked put my window in the early morning light to see the windows and grass had frosted over during the night giving the appearance it had snowed. It was only 7:30 but it was still early. Pulling on a sweatshirt, I head downstairs.

I start the coffee maker and pre-heat the oven for breakfast that was to come. Slowly the kids trickle down the stairs. Tyler comes first scrubbing the heel of his hand across his eyes to wipe away the last bits of sleep.

"Merry Christmas buddy," I say scooping him up in a hug.

"Merry Christmas Daddy," he says yawning. I set in on top of the counter and prepare a cup of hot chocolate for him, leaving the ingredients out for the other three.

"Merry Christmas dad," The twins say in perfect unison as the walk into the kitchen. They are wearing white long sleeve shirts and red pants with candy canes all over them. They both have their hair pulled back and are wearing Santa hats.

"Merry Christmas girls," I say pulling them into a hug. "You're up early," I note.

"Yea well we got excited," Kate says answering for the both of them.

Addison comes down next; her hair going everywhere and a small frown plays across her mouth. I hug her and had her and her sister's cups of hot chocolate. By now it's nearing eight thirty and I can tell the kids are itching to dig into their gifts; the only problem is that Carol has yet to make an appearance.

I fix her a cup of coffee, after sending the kids into the family room to turn on music, and head back up to our room. The door is still half open from when I got up and I'm surprised that she didn't wake up after all the noise we made.

I set the warm cup on her bedside table and kneel on the floor, my mouth right next to her ear.

"Carol it's time to get up," I press a kiss to the corner of her mouth and watch as she slips into a lighter state of sleep. "Come on babe, let's get up," I say kissing her again. She sighs, rolls over. A minute passes before she stretches her arms and turns back around. "Merry Christmas," I whisper.

She blinks and lays silent, still trying to wake up fully.

"Merry Christmas," she says after a minute. She sits up and takes the cup of coffee; the caffeine hitting her and the liquid warming her muscles. She pulls the blanket back, threading her fingers with mine. Together was walk out of our bedroom and downstairs to join our children.

"Merry Christmas mom," Four voices call aw we come into the room. Tyler stands and crosses over to his mom. He wraps her in a hug.

"Merry Christmas to you too," She says smiling.

The next hour is filled with un-wrapping gifts, Christmas music and lots of voices overlapping each other trying to be heard.

Tyler had gotten the $120 Lego set he had asked for. He shrieked with delight as the wrapping paper came off. She thanked up before setting the box behind him and going in for the next present.

We got Kate a video camera and all of its accessories. She has been interested in film making and has 'borrowed' our cameras on many occasions and used them to make short films with her siblings or friends or sometimes a combination of the two. I knew it would be well taken care of and used a lot and not just sitting forgotten on a shelf in her room.

"Ok, these are just representations of the gift that is yet to come," Carol says handing Tess and Addison identical envelopes. They both glance at us quizzically but open their gift nonetheless.

Tess gets hers open first and after reading the contents for a moment, audibly gasps. She squeals and jumps up. She wraps her arms around my neck and then Carols, all the while repeatedly thanking us.

Addison follows suit. They both sit back down, hundred watt smiles on both of their faces.

We, Carol and I, had talk long and hard about this gift. But after seeing their girl's love and involvement in the sci-fi world and in something they liked to call the 'Nerd Herd' we knew it was the right choice. There are many conventions similar to the one held on San Diego every year and seen as how Tess and Addy have attended the one in Seattle for the past two years, shows us that it's something they like. We chose to go to the one we had heard the most about. It's a convention called Dragon Con and it's held on Atlanta, Georgia. A lot of the actors that Tess and Addy like go to it, including the actors from _Firefly._

Once the dates for the next year's event were announced, we booked our trip. Considering we couldn't leave two of our kids home alone for a week, we had gotten six tickets; both for the plane and to get into the Con. I knew my kids would find something to like about this trip, their king of great in that aspect. I was also growing excited for it, but only because I heard that there would be areas for comic books and characters like Batman, not just the newer sci-fi stuff.

The kids go off into their own little world, leaving Carol and I to exchange presents.

She hands me her gift first. I peel back the wrapping paper to find a white box. I'm not shocked; she had used boxes like these to wrap clothes in. I remove the lid to find a program for a Chicago Bulls basketball game. It's an old one-probably fifteen or twenty years old. I glance up at Carol and she's smiling.

"Open it," she encourages. So I pick it up gently and flip open the first page. Inside is a note written in black ink.

_Some things never go out of style. Love you with all my heart, Carol._

It's short but means a lot. I had taken Carol to a Bulls game on our first date when I was still in medical school. I didn't know she had kept the program after all these years.

"Thanks you. It's perfect," I say pulling her in for a kiss.

Once we break, I hand her my gift. It's a red jewelry box with a plain gold bow stuck to it. Awesome wrapping job right?

She opens the lid and gasps; her eyes wide, mouth agape. It's a gold bracelet with four birthstones on it. Emerald for her birth month, May; one Citrine, a sort of orange color, for Tess and Kate's November birthday; a Sapphire for Addison's September birthday and a Diamond for Tyler's April birthday. Actually there were more than one diamond on the bracelet, but that's what one of them meant.

"Doug,' she gasps again not able to form a coherent sentence.

"I know," I say knowing what she wants to say but can't. She turns and brings my face close to hers. She traps my lips in hers. We are suspended weightless. Nothing else matters, no one but us exists.

[] []

Once the tornado of wrapping paper has been cleaned up, we spent the rest of the morning playing with the new toys we had gotten and eating _way_ too much candy.

Braden had stopped by a little while ago to give Tess her present. It's a silver necklace with a heart on it. It's simple, but very romantic and just screams Tess.

Carol looks on as Tyler and I spread out all the Lego pieces in the box and set about making the model pirate ship. Carol only scoffs and shakes her head saying there is no way we can finish it by the end of the day.

Dinner came and went and by bedtime, we still had not finished it yet.

Don't tell anyone I said this, but she was right.

"Today was perfect," Carol says as she curls against me in bed where we started the day fifteen hours before.

"It was perfect," I say kissing her forehead before sleep overtakes me.

Merry Christmas.


	29. 022 Enemies

**A/N- Well life got in the way, but i'm back. i have a oretty good map of where everything is going and have alrwady started pre-writing some chapters. i wanted to try something different with this chapter, hope you like it.**

**Dedicated to all of my freinds, family and people who worked at my school for helping me through my bulling issues.**

**Disclamor: not mine, just borrow them sometimes. thought some characters belong to me and Tree**

* * *

_March 2015_

I finish brushing out my still wet hair, throw on my favorite sweatshirt (the one I wore when I won my national title last year), and head downstairs.

"Where are mom and dad?" I ask my older sister, Kate.

She looks up from her homework and meets my eyes.

"They're in there," she points towards the living room. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I finish shortly before going to talk to my parents.

I sit down next to my dad, curling into his side. He puts an arm around my shoulder, and kisses the top of my head.

"Hey baby," he says not looking away from the hockey game he's watching. The un-stated, but well known rule in our house is that if a basketball or hockey game is on, we can't talk to dad until a commercial.

The period ends, and I take a breath.

"I need to talk to you," I say. Both my parent's eyes are on me and I can feel my face turn red hot. "Remember those kids in my Spanish class that were bullying me?" I ask refreshing my parent's minds.

"Addy, were they at it again?" my mom asks. I nod, tears coming to my eyes. I told myself that I wouldn't cry, but something about my mom makes me feel safe and able to let my guard down.

"How long have they been doing it this time?" my dad asks.

I had been bullied since third grade. At first it was because my classmates were jealous that I was smarter than they were and constantly getting pulled out to go to TAG classes. Recently, it's escaladed. Instead of the teases and taunts, they have been pushing me into lockers, or tripping me as I pass by their desks. They still say mean things to me, but now they've added physical abuse to it.

"They stopped for a while. It's only in the past week or two that they have been doing it again." I say looking at my dad.

He nods and smiles, trying to make me feel better.

"I'm glad you came and talked to us."

"I just want it to stop, for good this time," I say. The last time we had this conversation, they called my school counselor and got the bullies to stop but they only stopped for a week before it started all over again.

"We'll call your school and see what we can do ok?" my mom asks. I nod and give my dad and hug then my mom.

She kisses my cheek.

"We'll figure this out ladybug," she says.

"I know," I say. I walk out of the room and back into my bedroom. I turn on my laptop, which used to be my dad's but he gave it to me last year for my birthday, and open my e-mail account.

I type out a long letter to my best friend Chandini. She moved when we were in fourth grade and now lives in North Carolina with her family. I told about everything that was going on: how ballet was going, the random musings from school, how my parents and siblings were doing and I finish with about two paragraphs worth telling her about how I'm being bullied and that I want it to stop.

I send it and fall back against my pillows. I find my favorite teddy bear and hold it close to my chest as I cry silently.

[] []

_The next day_

I open the car door and set my ballet bag on the floor before getting in myself. I pull my seatbelt over my shoulder as my mom pulls away from my dance studio. Normally I would have stayed much later than I did but I wasn't needed in team rehearsal today, and I had some homework I needed to get done.

"How was dance?" mom asks. I smile and go on a long winded tangent about my classes that day and about how I finally got a clean double pique turn and how my teacher says that by next year I will be in point shoes.

Mom smiles at that. I have wanted to go en pointe for a long time, but my teachers have said I'm not ready, but now I am!

We fall silent for a while, and are stopped at a red light when she speaks again.

"I called your school," she starts.

"What did they say?" I ask

"They said they would tell you teachers to be on the lookout for these kids and we set up a meeting with your teachers and principal and counselor for next week"

I nod even though she can't see me as we've started driving again.

"Let's just hope this does something, unlike the sat time," I say. She murmurs and affirmative and takes my hand.

"We'll figure this out," she says and then flicks on the radio. I get lost in the music and my own thoughts. Before I know it, we're home and I run inside, ballet bag over my shoulder, shed my shoes and take off towards my room. As I pass my dad, sister and brother I say hi to them. I assume since Kate's not in the bunch that's at home in front of the TV, that she's either in her room, at a basketball game or practice, or out with friends.

I tap up the stairs and into my room where I quickly drop my dance bag, jump onto my bed and turn on my laptop. I'm hoping for a reply from Chan, but I look and my in-box and there isn't one. I get a little upset, but only for a minute.

_She's probably just busy,_ I tell myself. It seems to help because I feel better. I turn music on and start on my homework.

[] []

_One week later_

The hallway is full of kids rushing to get to their classes. I'm one of them and stop quickly at my locker to drop off my science and social studies books and exchange them for my math and language arts binders. I close the door and turn for my class when I'm being grabbed from behind.

It's my best friend, Eli. We've been friends since pre-school. We've gone through everything together. He's there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk too.

"Good luck at your meeting today," he says wrapping me in another hug.

Oh yea, my meeting with my parents, the principal and my teachers is today. I had almost forgotten about it, until Eli brought it up.

"Thanks," I say. "I just want all of this to be over with. I want them to stop bullying me," I say to him.

"I know, and it will be. You just gotta trust that things will get better," Eli smiles and his bright blue eyes shine out at me.

I hear the late bell go off and I turn and start running to my next class, calling 'bye' to Eli over my shoulder.

[] []

_Later that day_

We were working on a grammar worksheet in my language arts class when one of the office aids came in and handed my teacher a pass to leave class.

"Addison, this is for you," my teacher, Mr. Case, said holding out the pass for me to take. I looked at the time and went back to work on my paper. I still had fifteen minutes before I had to leave, enough time for me to finish the worksheet.

I finished it, and turned it in before packing up my stuff and leaving the classroom. I walked down the hall, getting lost in my own little world.

Entering the office, I stood in front of the secretary, Mrs. Allison, desk and waited as she checked my pass and directed me into a conference room. My parents were already there, as were most of my teacher's (aside from my language arts teacher who had to finish class first).

My teachers talked first, saying all this great stuff about how I'm very bright and that I'm the model student. They then went into what they've seen in regards to my bullies, how they have noticed them doing it and what they did to stop it.

My dad asked a lot of questions. At one point I thought he was going to start yelling at my teachers because, according to him they were just standing there watching and not helping me out of my problem.

We worked out a plan for if they ever did it again, and my principal, Mr. T, told my parents and I that the problem would be taken care of. He said these kids have been in constant trouble, not just with bulling me but in school in general. He said that this was a few of their last chances and that they were probably going to get suspended or expelled.

The meeting ended and my parents and teachers left to get back to work, but Mr. T asked me to stay back.

"I want you to know that I'm so proud of you," he said. "You have shown great maturity and came to people you trusted to help solve a pretty big problem."

I got shy; I didn't know what to say. He's the principal of my school; it is a little scary being around him. But he was nice, gave me a hug and let me sneak a candy bar out of his secret stash. He signed my pass and sent me back to class, with instruction that if anyone ever bullied me again, to come straight to him, to not talk to anyone else.

_Two weeks later_

It has stopped. No more bullies. No more having to worry about getting tripped in the halls or being called names. The best part is Mr. T switched Eli's schedule, so now he's in all of my classes! (I guess he thought I needed someone around who I trusted, in case something went wrong.) The kids who were bulling me have been suspended, expelled or sent to another school. They won't even be mean to me again.

[] []

_Addy,_

_I am SO sorry those kids are being mean to you. They shouldn't do that, it's not right! I know if I was there, I would have kicked their butts for you. Of course then I would have gotten in trouble, bit it would have been worth it. Hopefully all of this will get sorted out and they will stop being mean to you._

_Those kids are just jealous; jealous that they can't have friends, grades or a life that is like yours. They feel threatened by you and don't know how to express themselves, so they say and do mean and hurtful things._

_I miss you so much and I know you are amazing and these bullies are just a crack in your road to awesomeness!_

_Xoxo,_

_Chan_


End file.
